Inces farm and throw stones at you if you went anear he was looking at me
I had that white blouse on open in the front to encourage him as much as I
could without too openly they were just beginning to be plump I said I was
tired we lay over the firtree cove a wild place I suppose it must be the
highest rock in existence the galleries and casemates and those frightful
rocks and Saint Michaels cave with the icicles or whatever they call them
hanging down and ladders all the mud plotching my boots Im sure thats the
way down the monkeys go under the sea to Africa when they die the ships
out far like chips that was the Malta boat passing yes the sea and the sky
you could do what you liked lie there for ever he caressed them outside
they love doing that its the roundness there I was leaning over him with
my white ricestraw hat to take the newness out of it the left side of my
face the best my blouse open for his last day transparent kind of shirt he
had I could see his chest pink he wanted to touch mine with his for a
moment but I wouldnt lee him he was awfully put out first for fear you
never know consumption or leave me with a child embarazada that old
servant Ines told me that one drop even if it got into you at all after I
tried with the Banana but I was afraid it might break and get lost up in
me somewhere because they once took something down out of a woman that was
up there for years covered with limesalts theyre all mad to get in there
where they come out of youd think they could never go far enough up and
then theyre done with you in a way till the next time yes because theres a
wonderful feeling there so tender all the time how did we finish it off
yes O yes I pulled him off into my handkerchief pretending not to be
excited but I opened my legs I wouldnt let him touch me inside my
petticoat because I had a skirt opening up the side I tormented the life
out of him first tickling him I loved rousing that dog in the hotel
rrrsssstt awokwokawok his eyes shut and a bird flying below us he was shy
all the same I liked him like that moaning I made him blush a little when
I got over him that way when I unbuttoned him and took his out and drew
back the skin it had a kind of eye in it theyre all Buttons men down the
middle on the wrong side of them Molly darling he called me what was his
name Jack Joe Harry Mulvey was it yes I think a lieutenant he was rather
fair he had a laughing kind of a voice so I went round to the
whatyoucallit everything was whatyoucallit moustache had he he said hed
come back Lord its just like yesterday to me and if I was married hed do
it to me and I promised him yes faithfully Id let him block me now flying
perhaps hes dead or killed or a captain or admiral its nearly 20 years if
I said firtree cove he would if he came up behind me and put his hands
over my eyes to guess who I might recognise him hes young still about 40
perhaps hes married some girl on the black water and is quite changed they
all do they havent half the character a woman has she little knows what I
did with her beloved husband before he ever dreamt of her in broad
daylight too in the sight of the whole world you might say they could have
put an article about it in the Chronicle I was a bit wild after when I
blew out the old bag the biscuits were in from Benady Bros and exploded it
Lord what a bang all the woodcocks and pigeons screaming coming back the
same way that we went over middle hill round by the old guardhouse and the
jews burialplace pretending to read out the Hebrew on them I wanted to
fire his pistol he said he hadnt one he didnt know what to make of me with
his peak cap on that he always wore crooked as often as I settled it
straight H M S Calypso swinging my hat that old Bishop that spoke off the
altar his long preach about womans higher functions about girls now riding
the bicycle and wearing peak caps and the new woman bloomers God send him
sense and me more money I suppose theyre called after him I never thought
that would be my name Bloom when I used to write it in print to see how it
looked on a visiting card or practising for the butcher and oblige M Bloom
youre looking blooming Josie used to say after I married him well its
better than Breen or Briggs does brig or those awful names with bottom in
them Mrs Ramsbottom or some other kind of a bottom Mulvey I wouldnt go mad
about either or suppose I divorced him Mrs Boylan my mother whoever she
was might have given me a nicer name the Lord knows after the lovely one
she had Lunita Laredo the fun we had running along Williss road to Europa
point twisting in and out all round the other side of Jersey they were
shaking and dancing about in my blouse like Millys little ones now when
she runs up the stairs I loved looking down at them I was jumping up at
the pepper trees and the white poplars pulling the leaves off and throwing
them at him he went to India he was to write the voyages those men have to
make to the ends of the world and back its the least they might get a
squeeze or two at a woman while they can going out to be drowned or blown
up somewhere I went up Windmill hill to the flats that Sunday morning with
captain Rubios that was dead spyglass like the sentry had he said hed have
one or two from on board I wore that frock from the B Marche paris and the
coral necklace the straits shining I could see over to Morocco almost the
bay of Tangier white and the Atlas mountain with snow on it and the
straits like a river so clear Harry Molly darling I was thinking of him on
the sea all the time after at mass when my petticoat began to slip down at
the elevation weeks and weeks I kept the handkerchief under my pillow for
the smell of him there was no decent perfume to be got in that Gibraltar
only that cheap peau dEspagne that faded and left a stink on you more than
anything else I wanted to give him a memento he gave me that clumsy
Claddagh ring for luck that I gave Gardner going to south Africa where
those Boers killed him with their war and fever but they were well beaten
all the same as if it brought its bad luck with it like an opal or pearl
still it must have been pure 18 carrot gold because it was very heavy but
what could you get in a place like that the sandfrog shower from Africa
and that derelict ship that came up to the harbour Marie the Marie
whatyoucallit no he hadnt a moustache that was Gardner yes I can see his
face cleanshaven Frseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeefrong that train again weeping
tone once in the dear deaead days beyondre call close my eyes breath my
lips forward kiss sad look eyes open piano ere oer the world the mists
began I hate that istsbeg comes loves sweet sooooooooooong Ill let that
out full when I get in front of the footlights again Kathleen Kearney and
her lot of squealers Miss This Miss That Miss Theother lot of sparrowfarts
skitting around talking about politics they know as much about as my
backside anything in the world to make themselves someway interesting
Irish homemade beauties soldiers daughter am I ay and whose are you
bootmakers and publicans I beg your pardon coach I thought you were a
wheelbarrow theyd die down dead off their feet if ever they got a chance
of walking down the Alameda on an officers arm like me on the bandnight my
eyes flash my bust that they havent passion God help their poor head I
knew more about men and life when I was I S than theyll all know at 50
they dont know how to sing a song like that Gardner said no man could look
at my mouth and teeth smiling like that and not think of it I was afraid
he mightnt like my accent first he so English all father left me in spite
of his stamps Ive my mothers eyes and figure anyhow he always said theyre
so snotty about themselves some of those cads he wasnt a bit like that he
was dead gone on my lips let them get a husband first thats fit to be
looked at and a daughter like mine or see if they can excite a swell with
money that can pick and choose whoever he wants like Boylan to do it 4 or
5 times locked in each others arms or the voice either I could have been a
prima donna only I married him comes looooves old deep down chin back not
too much make it double My Ladys Bower is too long for an encore about the
moated grange at twilight and vaunted rooms yes Ill sing Winds that blow
from the south that he gave after the choirstairs performance Ill change
that lace on my black dress to show off my bubs and Ill yes by God Ill get
that big fan mended make them burst with envy my hole is itching me always
when I think of him I feel I want to I feel some wind in me better go easy
not wake him have him at it again slobbering after washing every bit of
myself back belly and sides if we had even a bath itself or my own room
anyway I wish hed sleep in some bed by himself with his cold feet on me
give us room even to let a fart God or do the least thing better yes hold
them like that a bit on my side piano quietly sweeeee theres that train
far away pianissimo eeeee one more song</p>
<p>that was a relief wherever you be let your wind go free who knows if that
pork chop I took with my cup of tea after was quite good with the heat I
couldnt smell anything off it Im sure that queerlooking man in the
porkbutchers is a great rogue I hope that lamp is not smoking fill my nose
up with smuts better than having him leaving the gas on all night I
couldnt rest easy in my bed in Gibraltar even getting up to see why am I
so damned nervous about that though I like it in the winter its more
company O Lord it was rotten cold too that winter when I was only about
ten was I yes I had the big doll with all the funny clothes dressing her
up and undressing that icy wind skeeting across from those mountains the
something Nevada sierra nevada standing at the fire with the little bit of
a short shift I had up to heat myself I loved dancing about in it then
make a race back into bed Im sure that fellow opposite used to be there
the whole time watching with the lights out in the summer and I in my skin
hopping around I used to love myself then stripped at the washstand
dabbing and creaming only when it came to the chamber performance I put
out the light too so then there were 2 of us goodbye to my sleep for this
night anyhow I hope hes not going to get in with those medicals leading
him astray to imagine hes young again coming in at 4 in the morning it
must be if not more still he had the manners not to wake me what do they
find to gabber about all night squandering money and getting drunker and
drunker couldnt they drink water then he starts giving us his orders for
eggs and tea and Findon haddy and hot buttered toast I suppose well have
him sitting up like the king of the country pumping the wrong end of the
spoon up and down in his egg wherever he learned that from and I love to
hear him falling up the stairs of a morning with the cups rattling on the
tray and then play with the cat she rubs up against you for her own sake I
wonder has she fleas shes as bad as a woman always licking and lecking but
I hate their claws I wonder do they see anything that we cant staring like
that when she sits at the top of the stairs so long and listening as I
wait always what a robber too that lovely fresh place I bought I think Ill
get a bit of fish tomorrow or today is it Friday yes I will with some
blancmange with black currant jam like long ago not those 2 lb pots of
mixed plum and apple from the London and Newcastle Williams and Woods goes
twice as far only for the bones I hate those eels cod yes Ill get a nice
piece of cod Im always getting enough for 3 forgetting anyway Im sick of
that everlasting butchers meat from Buckleys loin chops and leg beef and
rib steak and scrag of mutton and calfs pluck the very name is enough or a
picnic suppose we all gave 5/- each and or let him pay it and invite some
other woman for him who Mrs Fleming and drove out to the furry glen or the
strawberry beds wed have him examining all the horses toenails first like
he does with the letters no not with Boylan there yes with some cold veal
and ham mixed sandwiches there are little houses down at the bottom of the
banks there on purpose but its as hot as blazes he says not a bank holiday
anyhow I hate those ruck of Mary Ann coalboxes out for the day Whit Monday
is a cursed day too no wonder that bee bit him better the seaside but Id
never again in this life get into a boat with him after him at Bray
telling the boatman he knew how to row if anyone asked could he ride the
steeplechase for the gold cup hed say yes then it came on to get rough the
old thing crookeding about and the weight all down my side telling me pull
the right reins now pull the left and the tide all swamping in floods in
through the bottom and his oar slipping out of the stirrup its a mercy we
werent all drowned he can swim of course me no theres no danger whatsoever
keep yourself calm in his flannel trousers Id like to have tattered them
down off him before all the people and give him what that one calls
flagellate till he was black and blue do him all the good in the world
only for that longnosed chap I dont know who he is with that other beauty
Burke out of the City Arms hotel was there spying around as usual on the
slip always where he wasnt wanted if there was a row on youd vomit a
better face there was no love lost between us thats 1 consolation I wonder
what kind is that book he brought me Sweets of Sin by a gentleman of
fashion some other Mr de Kock I suppose the people gave him that nickname
going about with his tube from one woman to another I couldnt even change
my new white shoes all ruined with the saltwater and the hat I had with
that feather all blowy and tossed on me how annoying and provoking because
the smell of the sea excited me of course the sardines and the bream in
Catalan bay round the back of the rock they were fine all silver in the
fishermens baskets old Luigi near a hundred they said came from Genoa and
the tall old chap with the earrings I dont like a man you have to climb up
to to get at I suppose theyre all dead and rotten long ago besides I dont
like being alone in this big barracks of a place at night I suppose Ill
have to put up with it I never brought a bit of salt in even when we moved
in the confusion musical academy he was going to make on the first floor
drawingroom with a brassplate or Blooms private hotel he suggested go and
ruin himself altogether the way his father did down in Ennis like all the
things he told father he was going to do and me but I saw through him
telling me all the lovely places we could go for the honeymoon Venice by
moonlight with the gondolas and the lake of Como he had a picture cut out
of some paper of and mandolines and lanterns O how nice I said whatever I
liked he was going to do immediately if not sooner will you be my man will
you carry my can he ought to get a leather medal with a putty rim for all
the plans he invents then leaving us here all day youd never know what old
beggar at the door for a crust with his long story might be a tramp and
put his foot in the way to prevent me shutting it like that picture of
that hardened criminal he was called in Lloyds Weekly news 20 years in
jail then he comes out and murders an old woman for her money imagine his
poor wife or mother or whoever she is such a face youd run miles away from
I couldnt rest easy till I bolted all the doors and windows to make sure
but its worse again being locked up like in a prison or a madhouse they
ought to be all shot or the cat of nine tails a big brute like that that
would attack a poor old woman to murder her in her bed Id cut them off him
so I would not that hed be much use still better than nothing the night I
was sure I heard burglars in the kitchen and he went down in his shirt
with a candle and a poker as if he was looking for a mouse as white as a
sheet frightened out of his wits making as much noise as he possibly could
for the burglars benefit there isnt much to steal indeed the Lord knows
still its the feeling especially now with Milly away such an idea for him
to send the girl down there to learn to take photographs on account of his
grandfather instead of sending her to Skerrys academy where shed have to
learn not like me getting all IS at school only hed do a thing like that
all the same on account of me and Boylan thats why he did it Im certain
the way he plots and plans everything out I couldnt turn round with her in
the place lately unless I bolted the door first gave me the fidgets coming
in without knocking first when I put the chair against the door just as I
was washing myself there below with the glove get on your nerves then
doing the loglady all day put her in a glasscase with two at a time to
look at her if he knew she broke off the hand off that little gimcrack
statue with her roughness and carelessness before she left that I got that
little Italian boy to mend so that you cant see the join for 2 shillings
wouldnt even teem the potatoes for you of course shes right not to ruin
her hands I noticed he was always talking to her lately at the table
explaining things in the paper and she pretending to understand sly of
course that comes from his side of the house he cant say I pretend things
can he Im too honest as a matter of fact and helping her into her coat but
if there was anything wrong with her its me shed tell not him I suppose he
thinks Im finished out and laid on the shelf well Im not no nor anything
like it well see well see now shes well on for flirting too with Tom
Devans two sons imitating me whistling with those romps of Murray girls
calling for her can Milly come out please shes in great demand to pick
what they can out of her round in Nelson street riding Harry Devans
bicycle at night its as well he sent her where she is she was just getting
out of bounds wanting to go on the skatingrink and smoking their
cigarettes through their nose I smelt it off her dress when I was biting
off the thread of the button I sewed on to the bottom of her jacket she
couldnt hide much from me I tell you only I oughtnt to have stitched it
and it on her it brings a parting and the last plumpudding too split in 2
halves see it comes out no matter what they say her tongue is a bit too
long for my taste your blouse is open too low she says to me the pan
calling the kettle blackbottom and I had to tell her not to cock her legs
up like that on show on the windowsill before all the people passing they
all look at her like me when I was her age of course any old rag looks
well on you then a great touchmenot too in her own way at the Only Way in
the Theatre royal take your foot away out of that I hate people touching
me afraid of her life Id crush her skirt with the pleats a lot of that
touching must go on in theatres in the crush in the dark theyre always
trying to wiggle up to you that fellow in the pit at the Gaiety for
Beerbohm Tree in Trilby the last time Ill ever go there to be squashed
like that for any Trilby or her barebum every two minutes tipping me there
and looking away hes a bit daft I think I saw him after trying to get near
two stylishdressed ladies outside Switzers window at the same little game
I recognised him on the moment the face and everything but he didnt
remember me yes and she didnt even want me to kiss her at the Broadstone
going away well I hope shell get someone to dance attendance on her the
way I did when she was down with the mumps and her glands swollen wheres
this and wheres that of course she cant feel anything deep yet I never
came properly till I was what 22 or so it went into the wrong place always
only the usual girls nonsense and giggling that Conny Connolly writing to
her in white ink on black paper sealed with sealingwax though she clapped
when the curtain came down because he looked so handsome then we had
Martin Harvey for breakfast dinner and supper I thought to myself
afterwards it must be real love if a man gives up his life for her that
way for nothing I suppose there are a few men like that left its hard to
believe in it though unless it really happened to me the majority of them
with not a particle of love in their natures to find two people like that
nowadays full up of each other that would feel the same way as you do
theyre usually a bit foolish in the head his father must have been a bit
queer to go and poison himself after her still poor old man I suppose he
felt lost shes always making love to my things too the few old rags I have
wanting to put her hair up at I S my powder too only ruin her skin on her
shes time enough for that all her life after of course shes restless
knowing shes pretty with her lips so red a pity they wont stay that way I
was too but theres no use going to the fair with the thing answering me
like a fishwoman when I asked to go for a half a stone of potatoes the day
we met Mrs Joe Gallaher at the trottingmatches and she pretended not to
see us in her trap with Friery the solicitor we werent grand enough till I
gave her 2 damn fine cracks across the ear for herself take that now for
answering me like that and that for your impudence she had me that
exasperated of course contradicting I was badtempered too because how was
it there was a weed in the tea or I didnt sleep the night before cheese I
ate was it and I told her over and over again not to leave knives crossed
like that because she has nobody to command her as she said herself well
if he doesnt correct her faith I will that was the last time she turned on
the teartap I was just like that myself they darent order me about the
place its his fault of course having the two of us slaving here instead of
getting in a woman long ago am I ever going to have a proper servant again
of course then shed see him coming Id have to let her know or shed revenge
it arent they a nuisance that old Mrs Fleming you have to be walking round
after her putting the things into her hands sneezing and farting into the
pots well of course shes old she cant help it a good job I found that
rotten old smelly dishcloth that got lost behind the dresser I knew there
was something and opened the area window to let out the smell bringing in
his friends to entertain them like the night he walked home with a dog if
you please that might have been mad especially Simon Dedalus son his
father such a criticiser with his glasses up with his tall hat on him at
the cricket match and a great big hole in his sock one thing laughing at
the other and his son that got all those prizes for whatever he won them
in the intermediate imagine climbing over the railings if anybody saw him
that knew us I wonder he didnt tear a big hole in his grand funeral
trousers as if the one nature gave wasnt enough for anybody hawking him
down into the dirty old kitchen now is he right in his head I ask pity it
wasnt washing day my old pair of drawers might have been hanging up too on
the line on exhibition for all hed ever care with the ironmould mark the
stupid old bundle burned on them he might think was something else and she
never even rendered down the fat I told her and now shes going such as she
was on account of her paralysed husband getting worse theres always
something wrong with them disease or they have to go under an operation or
if its not that its drink and he beats her Ill have to hunt around again
for someone every day I get up theres some new thing on sweet God sweet
God well when Im stretched out dead in my grave I suppose 111 have some
peace I want to get up a minute if Im let wait O Jesus wait yes that thing
has come on me yes now wouldnt that afflict you of course all the poking
and rooting and ploughing he had up in me now what am I to do Friday
Saturday Sunday wouldnt that pester the soul out of a body unless he likes
it some men do God knows theres always something wrong with us 5 days
every 3 or 4 weeks usual monthly auction isnt it simply sickening that
night it came on me like that the one and only time we were in a box that
Michael Gunn gave him to see Mrs Kendal and her husband at the Gaiety
something he did about insurance for him in Drimmies I was fit to be tied
though I wouldnt give in with that gentleman of fashion staring down at me
with his glasses and him the other side of me talking about Spinoza and
his soul thats dead I suppose millions of years ago I smiled the best I
could all in a swamp leaning forward as if I was interested having to sit
it out then to the last tag I wont forget that wife of Scarli in a hurry
supposed to be a fast play about adultery that idiot in the gallery
hissing the woman adulteress he shouted I suppose he went and had a woman
in the next lane running round all the back ways after to make up for it I
wish he had what I had then hed boo I bet the cat itself is better off
than us have we too much blood up in us or what O patience above its
pouring out of me like the sea anyhow he didnt make me pregnant as big as
he is I dont want to ruin the clean sheets I just put on I suppose the
clean linen I wore brought it on too damn it damn it and they always want
to see a stain on the bed to know youre a virgin for them all thats
troubling them theyre such fools too you could be a widow or divorced 40
times over a daub of red ink would do or blackberry juice no thats too
purply O Jamesy let me up out of this pooh sweets of sin whoever suggested
that business for women what between clothes and cooking and children this
damned old bed too jingling like the dickens I suppose they could hear us
away over the other side of the park till I suggested to put the quilt on
the floor with the pillow under my bottom I wonder is it nicer in the day
I think it is easy I think Ill cut all this hair off me there scalding me
I might look like a young girl wouldnt he get the great suckin the next
time he turned up my clothes on me Id give anything to see his face wheres
the chamber gone easy Ive a holy horror of its breaking under me after
that old commode I wonder was I too heavy sitting on his knee I made him
sit on the easychair purposely when I took off only my blouse and skirt
first in the other room he was so busy where he oughtnt to be he never
felt me I hope my breath was sweet after those kissing comfits easy God I
remember one time I could scout it out straight whistling like a man
almost easy O Lord how noisy I hope theyre bubbles on it for a wad of
money from some fellow 111 have to perfume it in the morning dont forget I
bet he never saw a better pair of thighs than that look how white they are
the smoothest place is right there between this bit here how soft like a
peach easy God I wouldnt mind being a man and get up on a lovely woman O
Lord what a row youre making like the jersey lily easy easy O how the
waters come down at Lahore</p>
<p>who knows is there anything the matter with my insides or have I something
growing in me getting that thing like that every week when was it last I
Whit Monday yes its only about 3 weeks I ought to go to the doctor only it
would be like before I married him when I had that white thing coming from
me and Floey made me go to that dry old stick Dr Collins for womens
diseases on Pembroke road your vagina he called it I suppose thats how he
got all the gilt mirrors and carpets getting round those rich ones off
Stephens green running up to him for every little fiddlefaddle her vagina
and her cochinchina theyve money of course so theyre all right I wouldnt
marry him not if he was the last man in the world besides theres something
queer about their children always smelling around those filthy bitches all
sides asking me if what I did had an offensive odour what did he want me
to do but the one thing gold maybe what a question if I smathered it all
over his wrinkly old face for him with all my compriments I suppose hed
know then and could you pass it easily pass what I thought he was talking
about the rock of Gibraltar the way he put it thats a very nice invention
too by the way only I like letting myself down after in the hole as far as
I can squeeze and pull the chain then to flush it nice cool pins and
needles still theres something in it I suppose I always used to know by
Millys when she was a child whether she had worms or not still all the
same paying him for that how much is that doctor one guinea please and
asking me had I frequent omissions where do those old fellows get all the
words they have omissions with his shortsighted eyes on me cocked sideways
I wouldnt trust him too far to give me chloroform or God knows what else
still I liked him when he sat down to write the thing out frowning so
severe his nose intelligent like that you be damned you lying strap O
anything no matter who except an idiot he was clever enough to spot that
of course that was all thinking of him and his mad crazy letters my
Precious one everything connected with your glorious Body everything
underlined that comes from it is a thing of beauty and of joy for ever
something he got out of some nonsensical book that he had me always at
myself 4 and 5 times a day sometimes and I said I hadnt are you sure O yes
I said I am quite sure in a way that shut him up I knew what was coming
next only natural weakness it was he excited me I dont know how the first
night ever we met when I was living in Rehoboth terrace we stood staring
at one another for about lo minutes as if we met somewhere I suppose on
account of my being jewess looking after my mother he used to amuse me the
things he said with the half sloothering smile on him and all the Doyles
said he was going to stand for a member of Parliament O wasnt I the born
fool to believe all his blather about home rule and the land league
sending me that long strool of a song out of the Huguenots to sing in
French to be more classy O beau pays de la Touraine that I never even sang
once explaining and rigmaroling about religion and persecution he wont let
you enjoy anything naturally then might he as a great favour the very 1st
opportunity he got a chance in Brighton square running into my bedroom
pretending the ink got on his hands to wash it off with the Albion milk
and sulphur soap I used to use and the gelatine still round it O I laughed
myself sick at him that day I better not make an alnight sitting on this
affair they ought to make chambers a natural size so that a woman could
sit on it properly he kneels down to do it I suppose there isnt in all
creation another man with the habits he has look at the way hes sleeping
at the foot of the bed how can he without a hard bolster its well he
doesnt kick or he might knock out all my teeth breathing with his hand on
his nose like that Indian god he took me to show one wet Sunday in the
museum in Kildare street all yellow in a pinafore lying on his side on his
hand with his ten toes sticking out that he said was a bigger religion
than the jews and Our Lords both put together all over Asia imitating him
as hes always imitating everybody I suppose he used to sleep at the foot
of the bed too with his big square feet up in his wifes mouth damn this
stinking thing anyway wheres this those napkins are ah yes I know I hope
the old press doesnt creak ah I knew it would hes sleeping hard had a good
time somewhere still she must have given him great value for his money of
course he has to pay for it from her O this nuisance of a thing I hope
theyll have something better for us in the other world tying ourselves up
God help us thats all right for tonight now the lumpy old jingly bed
always reminds me of old Cohen I suppose he scratched himself in it often
enough and he thinks father bought it from Lord Napier that I used to
admire when I was a little girl because I told him easy piano O I like my
bed God here we are as bad as ever after 16 years how many houses were we
in at all Raymond terrace and Ontario terrace and Lombard street and
Holles street and he goes about whistling every time were on the run again
his huguenots or the frogs march pretending to help the men with our 4
sticks of furniture and then the City Arms hotel worse and worse says
Warden Daly that charming place on the landing always somebody inside
praying then leaving all their stinks after them always know who was in
there last every time were just getting on right something happens or he
puts his big foot in it Thoms and Helys and Mr Cuffes and Drimmies either
hes going to be run into prison over his old lottery tickets that was to
be all our salvations or he goes and gives impudence well have him coming
home with the sack soon out of the Freeman too like the rest on account of
those Sinner Fein or the freemasons then well see if the little man he
showed me dribbling along in the wet all by himself round by Coadys lane
will give him much consolation that he says is so capable and sincerely
Irish he is indeed judging by the sincerity of the trousers I saw on him
wait theres Georges church bells wait 3 quarters the hour l wait 2 oclock
well thats a nice hour of the night for him to be coming home at to
anybody climbing down into the area if anybody saw him Ill knock him off
that little habit tomorrow first Ill look at his shirt to see or Ill see
if he has that French letter still in his pocketbook I suppose he thinks I
dont know deceitful men all their 20 pockets arent enough for their lies
then why should we tell them even if its the truth they dont believe you
then tucked up in bed like those babies in the Aristocrats Masterpiece he
brought me another time as if we hadnt enough of that in real life without
some old Aristocrat or whatever his name is disgusting you more with those
rotten pictures children with two heads and no legs thats the kind of
villainy theyre always dreaming about with not another thing in their
empty heads they ought to get slow poison the half of them then tea and
toast for him buttered on both sides and newlaid eggs I suppose Im nothing
any more when I wouldnt let him lick me in Holles street one night man man
tyrant as ever for the one thing he slept on the floor half the night
naked the way the jews used when somebody dies belonged to them and
wouldnt eat any breakfast or speak a word wanting to be petted so I
thought I stood out enough for one time and let him he does it all wrong
too thinking only of his own pleasure his tongue is too flat or I dont
know what he forgets that wethen I dont Ill make him do it again if he
doesnt mind himself and lock him down to sleep in the coalcellar with the
blackbeetles I wonder was it her Josie off her head with my castoffs hes
such a born liar too no hed never have the courage with a married woman
thats why he wants me and Boylan though as for her Denis as she calls him
that forlornlooking spectacle you couldnt call him a husband yes its some
little bitch hes got in with even when I was with him with Milly at the
College races that Hornblower with the childs bonnet on the top of his nob
let us into by the back way he was throwing his sheeps eyes at those two
doing skirt duty up and down I tried to wink at him first no use of course
and thats the way his money goes this is the fruits of Mr Paddy Dignam yes
they were all in great style at the grand funeral in the paper Boylan
brought in if they saw a real officers funeral thatd be something reversed
arms muffled drums the poor horse walking behind in black L Boom and Tom
Kernan that drunken little barrelly man that bit his tongue off falling
down the mens W C drunk in some place or other and Martin Cunningham and
the two Dedaluses and Fanny MCoys husband white head of cabbage skinny
thing with a turn in her eye trying to sing my songs shed want to be born
all over again and her old green dress with the lowneck as she cant
attract them any other way like dabbling on a rainy day I see it all now
plainly and they call that friendship killing and then burying one another
and they all with their wives and families at home more especially Jack
Power keeping that barmaid he does of course his wife is always sick or
going to be sick or just getting better of it and hes a goodlooking man
still though hes getting a bit grey over the ears theyre a nice lot all of
them well theyre not going to get my husband again into their clutches if
I can help it making fun of him then behind his back I know well when he
goes on with his idiotics because he has sense enough not to squander
every penny piece he earns down their gullets and looks after his wife and
family goodfornothings poor Paddy Dignam all the same Im sorry in a way
for him what are his wife and 5 children going to do unless he was insured
comical little teetotum always stuck up in some pub corner and her or her
son waiting Bill Bailey wont you please come home her widows weeds wont
improve her appearance theyre awfully becoming though if youre goodlooking
what men wasnt he yes he was at the Glencree dinner and Ben Dollard base
barreltone the night he borrowed the swallowtail to sing out of in Holles
street squeezed and squashed into them and grinning all over his big Dolly
face like a wellwhipped childs botty didnt he look a balmy ballocks sure
enough that must have been a spectacle on the stage imagine paying 5/- in
the preserved seats for that to see him trotting off in his trowlers and
Simon Dedalus too he was always turning up half screwed singing the second
verse first the old love is the new was one of his so sweetly sang the
maiden on the hawthorn bough he was always on for flirtyfying too when I
sang Maritana with him at Freddy Mayers private opera he had a delicious
glorious voice Phoebe dearest goodbye <i>sweet</i>heart sweetheart he
always sang it not like Bartell Darcy sweet tart goodbye of course he had
the gift of the voice so there was no art in it all over you like a warm
showerbath O Maritana wildwood flower we sang splendidly though it was a
bit too high for my register even transposed and he was married at the
time to May Goulding but then hed say or do something to knock the good
out of it hes a widower now I wonder what sort is his son he says hes an
author and going to be a university professor of Italian and Im to take
lessons what is he driving at now showing him my photo its not good of me
I ought to have got it taken in drapery that never looks out of fashion
still I look young in it I wonder he didnt make him a present of it
altogether and me too after all why not I saw him driving down to the
Kingsbridge station with his father and mother I was in mourning thats 11
years ago now yes hed be 11 though what was the good in going into
mourning for what was neither one thing nor the other the first cry was
enough for me I heard the deathwatch too ticking in the wall of course he
insisted hed go into mourning for the cat I suppose hes a man now by this
time he was an innocent boy then and a darling little fellow in his lord
Fauntleroy suit and curly hair like a prince on the stage when I saw him
at Mat Dillons he liked me too I remember they all do wait by God yes wait
yes hold on he was on the cards this morning when I laid out the deck
union with a young stranger neither dark nor fair you met before I thought
it meant him but hes no chicken nor a stranger either besides my face was
turned the other way what was the 7th card after that the 10 of spades for
a journey by land then there was a letter on its way and scandals too the
3 queens and the 8 of diamonds for a rise in society yes wait it all came
out and 2 red 8s for new garments look at that and didnt I dream something
too yes there was something about poetry in it I hope he hasnt long greasy
hair hanging into his eyes or standing up like a red Indian what do they
go about like that for only getting themselves and their poetry laughed at
I always liked poetry when I was a girl first I thought he was a poet like
lord Byron and not an ounce of it in his composition I thought he was
quite different I wonder is he too young hes about wait 88 I was married
88 Milly is 15 yesterday 89 what age was he then at Dillons 5 or 6 about
88 I suppose hes 20 or more Im not too old for him if hes 23 or 24 I hope
hes not that stuckup university student sort no otherwise he wouldnt go
sitting down in the old kitchen with him taking Eppss cocoa and talking of
course he pretended to understand it all probably he told him he was out
of Trinity college hes very young to be a professor I hope hes not a
professor like Goodwin was he was a potent professor of John Jameson they
all write about some woman in their poetry well I suppose he wont find
many like me where softly sighs of love the light guitar where poetry is
in the air the blue sea and the moon shining so beautifully coming back on
the nightboat from Tarifa the lighthouse at Europa point the guitar that
fellow played was so expressive will I ever go back there again all new
faces two glancing eyes a lattice hid Ill sing that for him theyre my eyes
if hes anything of a poet two eyes as darkly bright as loves own star
arent those beautiful words as loves young star itll be a change the Lord
knows to have an intelligent person to talk to about yourself not always
listening to him and Billy Prescotts ad and Keyess ad and Tom the Devils
ad then if anything goes wrong in their business we have to suffer Im sure
hes very distinguished Id like to meet a man like that God not those other
ruck besides hes young those fine young men I could see down in Margate
strand bathingplace from the side of the rock standing up in the sun naked
like a God or something and then plunging into the sea with them why arent
all men like that thered be some consolation for a woman like that lovely
little statue he bought I could look at him all day long curly head and
his shoulders his finger up for you to listen theres real beauty and
poetry for you I often felt I wanted to kiss him all over also his lovely
young cock there so simple I wouldnt mind taking him in my mouth if nobody
was looking as if it was asking you to suck it so clean and white he looks
with his boyish face I would too in 1/2 a minute even if some of it went
down what its only like gruel or the dew theres no danger besides hed be
so clean compared with those pigs of men I suppose never dream of washing
it from I years end to the other the most of them only thats what gives
the women the moustaches Im sure itll be grand if I can only get in with a
handsome young poet at my age Ill throw them the 1st thing in the morning
till I see if the wishcard comes out or Ill try pairing the lady herself
and see if he comes out Ill read and study all I can find or learn a bit
off by heart if I knew who he likes so he wont think me stupid if he
thinks all women are the same and I can teach him the other part Ill make
him feel all over him till he half faints under me then hell write about
me lover and mistress publicly too with our 2 photographs in all the
papers when he becomes famous O but then what am I going to do about him
though</p>
<p>no thats no way for him has he no manners nor no refinement nor no nothing
in his nature slapping us behind like that on my bottom because I didnt
call him Hugh the ignoramus that doesnt know poetry from a cabbage thats
what you get for not keeping them in their proper place pulling off his
shoes and trousers there on the chair before me so barefaced without even
asking permission and standing out that vulgar way in the half of a shirt
they wear to be admired like a priest or a butcher or those old hypocrites
in the time of Julius Caesar of course hes right enough in his way to pass
the time as a joke sure you might as well be in bed with what with a lion
God Im sure hed have something better to say for himself an old Lion would
O well I suppose its because they were so plump and tempting in my short
petticoat he couldnt resist they excite myself sometimes its well for men
all the amount of pleasure they get off a womans body were so round and
white for them always I wished I was one myself for a change just to try
with that thing they have swelling up on you so hard and at the same time
so soft when you touch it my uncle John has a thing long I heard those
cornerboys saying passing the comer of Marrowbone lane my aunt Mary has a
thing hairy because it was dark and they knew a girl was passing it didnt
make me blush why should it either its only nature and he puts his thing
long into my aunt Marys hairy etcetera and turns out to be you put the
handle in a sweepingbrush men again all over they can pick and choose what
they please a married woman or a fast widow or a girl for their different
tastes like those houses round behind Irish street no but were to be
always chained up theyre not going to be chaining me up no damn fear once
I start I tell you for their stupid husbands jealousy why cant we all
remain friends over it instead of quarrelling her husband found it out
what they did together well naturally and if he did can he undo it hes
coronado anyway whatever he does and then he going to the other mad
extreme about the wife in Fair Tyrants of course the man never even casts
a 2nd thought on the husband or wife either its the woman he wants and he
gets her what else were we given all those desires for Id like to know I
cant help it if Im young still can I its a wonder Im not an old shrivelled
hag before my time living with him so cold never embracing me except
sometimes when hes asleep the wrong end of me not knowing I suppose who he
has any man thatd kiss a womans bottom Id throw my hat at him after that
hed kiss anything unnatural where we havent I atom of any kind of
expression in us all of us the same 2 lumps of lard before ever Id do that
to a man pfooh the dirty brutes the mere thought is enough I kiss the feet
of you senorita theres some sense in that didnt he kiss our halldoor yes
he did what a madman nobody understands his cracked ideas but me still of
course a woman wants to be embraced 20 times a day almost to make her look
young no matter by who so long as to be in love or loved by somebody if
the fellow you want isnt there sometimes by the Lord God I was thinking
would I go around by the quays there some dark evening where nobodyd know
me and pick up a sailor off the sea thatd be hot on for it and not care a
pin whose I was only do it off up in a gate somewhere or one of those
wildlooking gipsies in Rathfarnham had their camp pitched near the
Bloomfield laundry to try and steal our things if they could I only sent
mine there a few times for the name model laundry sending me back over and
over some old ones odd stockings that blackguardlooking fellow with the
fine eyes peeling a switch attack me in the dark and ride me up against
the wall without a word or a murderer anybody what they do themselves the
fine gentlemen in their silk hats that K C lives up somewhere this way
coming out of Hardwicke lane the night he gave us the fish supper on
account of winning over the boxing match of course it was for me he gave
it I knew him by his gaiters and the walk and when I turned round a minute
after just to see there was a woman after coming out of it too some filthy
prostitute then he goes home to his wife after that only I suppose the
half of those sailors are rotten again with disease O move over your big
carcass out of that for the love of Mike listen to him the winds that waft
my sighs to thee so well he may sleep and sigh the great Suggester Don
Poldo de la Flora if he knew how he came out on the cards this morning hed
have something to sigh for a dark man in some perplexity between 2 7s too
in prison for Lord knows what he does that I dont know and Im to be
slooching around down in the kitchen to get his lordship his breakfast
while hes rolled up like a mummy will I indeed did you ever see me running
Id just like to see myself at it show them attention and they treat you
like dirt I dont care what anybody says itd be much better for the world
to be governed by the women in it you wouldnt see women going and killing
one another and slaughtering when do you ever see women rolling around
drunk like they do or gambling every penny they have and losing it on
horses yes because a woman whatever she does she knows where to stop sure
they wouldnt be in the world at all only for us they dont know what it is
to be a woman and a mother how could they where would they all of them be
if they hadnt all a mother to look after them what I never had thats why I
suppose hes running wild now out at night away from his books and studies
and not living at home on account of the usual rowy house I suppose well
its a poor case that those that have a fine son like that theyre not
satisfied and I none was he not able to make one it wasnt my fault we came
together when I was watching the two dogs up in her behind in the middle
of the naked street that disheartened me altogether I suppose I oughtnt to
have buried him in that little woolly jacket I knitted crying as I was but
give it to some poor child but I knew well Id never have another our 1st
death too it was we were never the same since O Im not going to think
myself into the glooms about that any more I wonder why he wouldnt stay
the night I felt all the time it was somebody strange he brought in
instead of roving around the city meeting God knows who nightwalkers and
pickpockets his poor mother wouldnt like that if she was alive ruining
himself for life perhaps still its a lovely hour so silent I used to love
coming home after dances the air of the night they have friends they can
talk to weve none either he wants what he wont get or its some woman ready
to stick her knife in you I hate that in women no wonder they treat us the
way they do we are a dreadful lot of bitches I suppose its all the
troubles we have makes us so snappy Im not like that he could easy have
slept in there on the sofa in the other room I suppose he was as shy as a
boy he being so young hardly 20 of me in the next room hed have heard me
on the chamber arrah what harm Dedalus I wonder its like those names in
Gibraltar Delapaz Delagracia they had the devils queer names there father
Vilaplana of Santa Maria that gave me the rosary Rosales y OReilly in the
Calle las Siete Revueltas and Pisimbo and Mrs Opisso in Governor street O
what a name Id go and drown myself in the first river if I had a name like
her O my and all the bits of streets Paradise ramp and Bedlam ramp and
Rodgers ramp and Crutchetts ramp and the devils gap steps well small blame
to me if I am a harumscarum I know I am a bit I declare to God I dont feel
a day older than then I wonder could I get my tongue round any of the
Spanish como esta usted muy bien gracias y usted see I havent forgotten it
all I thought I had only for the grammar a noun is the name of any person
place or thing pity I never tried to read that novel cantankerous Mrs
Rubio lent me by Valera with the questions in it all upside down the two
ways I always knew wed go away in the end I can tell him the Spanish and
he tell me the Italian then hell see Im not so ignorant what a pity he
didnt stay Im sure the poor fellow was dead tired and wanted a good sleep
badly I could have brought him in his breakfast in bed with a bit of toast
so long as I didnt do it on the knife for bad luck or if the woman was
going her rounds with the watercress and something nice and tasty there
are a few olives in the kitchen he might like I never could bear the look
of them in Abrines I could do the criada the room looks all right since I
changed it the other way you see something was telling me all the time Id
have to introduce myself not knowing me from Adam very funny wouldnt it Im
his wife or pretend we were in Spain with him half awake without a Gods
notion where he is dos huevos estrellados senor Lord the cracked things
come into my head sometimes itd be great fun supposing he stayed with us
why not theres the room upstairs empty and Millys bed in the back room he
could do his writing and studies at the table in there for all the
scribbling he does at it and if he wants to read in bed in the morning
like me as hes making the breakfast for I he can make it for 2 Im sure Im
not going to take in lodgers off the street for him if he takes a gesabo
of a house like this Id love to have a long talk with an intelligent
welleducated person Id have to get a nice pair of red slippers like those
Turks with the fez used to sell or yellow and a nice semitransparent
morning gown that I badly want or a peachblossom dressing jacket like the
one long ago in Walpoles only 8/6 or 18/6 Ill just give him one more
chance Ill get up early in the morning Im sick of Cohens old bed in any
case I might go over to the markets to see all the vegetables and cabbages
and tomatoes and carrots and all kinds of splendid fruits all coming in
lovely and fresh who knows whod be the 1st man Id meet theyre out looking
for it in the morning Mamy Dillon used to say they are and the night too
that was her massgoing Id love a big juicy pear now to melt in your mouth
like when I used to be in the longing way then Ill throw him up his eggs
and tea in the moustachecup she gave him to make his mouth bigger I
suppose hed like my nice cream too I know what Ill do Ill go about rather
gay not too much singing a bit now and then mi fa pieta Masetto then Ill
start dressing myself to go out presto non son piu forte Ill put on my
best shift and drawers let him have a good eyeful out of that to make his
micky stand for him Ill let him know if thats what he wanted that his wife
is I s l o fucked yes and damn well fucked too up to my neck nearly not by
him 5 or 6 times handrunning theres the mark of his spunk on the clean
sheet I wouldnt bother to even iron it out that ought to satisfy him if
you dont believe me feel my belly unless I made him stand there and put
him into me Ive a mind to tell him every scrap and make him do it out in
front of me serve him right its all his own fault if I am an adulteress as
the thing in the gallery said O much about it if thats all the harm ever
we did in this vale of tears God knows its not much doesnt everybody only
they hide it I suppose thats what a woman is supposed to be there for or
He wouldnt have made us the way He did so attractive to men then if he
wants to kiss my bottom Ill drag open my drawers and bulge it right out in
his face as large as life he can stick his tongue 7 miles up my hole as
hes there my brown part then Ill tell him I want LI or perhaps 30/- Ill
tell him I want to buy underclothes then if he gives me that well he wont
be too bad I dont want to soak it all out of him like other women do I
could often have written out a fine cheque for myself and write his name
on it for a couple of pounds a few times he forgot to lock it up besides
he wont spend it Ill let him do it off on me behind provided he doesnt
smear all my good drawers O I suppose that cant be helped Ill do the
indifferent l or 2 questions Ill know by the answers when hes like that he
cant keep a thing back I know every turn in him Ill tighten my bottom well
and let out a few smutty words smellrump or lick my shit or the first mad
thing comes into my head then Ill suggest about yes O wait now sonny my
turn is coming Ill be quite gay and friendly over it O but I was
forgetting this bloody pest of a thing pfooh you wouldnt know which to
laugh or cry were such a mixture of plum and apple no Ill have to wear the
old things so much the better itll be more pointed hell never know whether
he did it or not there thats good enough for you any old thing at all then
Ill wipe him off me just like a business his omission then Ill go out Ill
have him eying up at the ceiling where is she gone now make him want me
thats the only way a quarter after what an unearthly hour I suppose theyre
just getting up in China now combing out their pigtails for the day well
soon have the nuns ringing the angelus theyve nobody coming in to spoil
their sleep except an odd priest or two for his night office or the
alarmclock next door at cockshout clattering the brains out of itself let
me see if I can doze off 1 2 3 4 5 what kind of flowers are those they
invented like the stars the wallpaper in Lombard street was much nicer the
apron he gave me was like that something only I only wore it twice better
lower this lamp and try again so as I can get up early Ill go to Lambes
there beside Findlaters and get them to send us some flowers to put about
the place in case he brings him home tomorrow today I mean no no Fridays
an unlucky day first I want to do the place up someway the dust grows in
it I think while Im asleep then we can have music and cigarettes I can
accompany him first I must clean the keys of the piano with milk whatll I
wear shall I wear a white rose or those fairy cakes in Liptons I love the
smell of a rich big shop at 7 1/2d a lb or the other ones with the
cherries in them and the pinky sugar I Id a couple of lbs of those a nice
plant for the middle of the table Id get that cheaper in wait wheres this
I saw them not long ago I love flowers Id love to have the whole place
swimming in roses God of heaven theres nothing like nature the wild
mountains then the sea and the waves rushing then the beautiful country
with the fields of oats and wheat and all kinds of things and all the fine
cattle going about that would do your heart good to see rivers and lakes
and flowers all sorts of shapes and smells and colours springing up even
out of the ditches primroses and violets nature it is as for them saying
theres no God I wouldnt give a snap of my two fingers for all their
learning why dont they go and create something I often asked him atheists
or whatever they call themselves go and wash the cobbles off themselves
first then they go howling for the priest and they dying and why why
because theyre afraid of hell on account of their bad conscience ah yes I
know them well who was the first person in the universe before there was
anybody that made it all who ah that they dont know neither do I so there
you are they might as well try to stop the sun from rising tomorrow the
sun shines for you he said the day we were lying among the rhododendrons
on Howth head in the grey tweed suit and his straw hat the day I got him
to propose to me yes first I gave him the bit of seedcake out of my mouth
and it was leapyear like now yes 16 years ago my God after that long kiss
I near lost my breath yes he said I was a flower of the mountain yes so we
are flowers all a womans body yes that was one true thing he said in his
life and the sun shines for you today yes that was why I liked him because
I saw he understood or felt what a woman is and I knew I could always get
round him and I gave him all the pleasure I could leading him on till he
asked me to say yes and I wouldnt answer first only looked out over the
sea and the sky I was thinking of so many things he didnt know of Mulvey
and Mr Stanhope and Hester and father and old captain Groves and the
sailors playing all birds fly and I say stoop and washing up dishes they
called it on the pier and the sentry in front of the governors house with
the thing round his white helmet poor devil half roasted and the Spanish
girls laughing in their shawls and their tall combs and the auctions in
the morning the Greeks and the jews and the Arabs and the devil knows who
else from all the ends of Europe and Duke street and the fowl market all
clucking outside Larby Sharons and the poor donkeys slipping half asleep
and the vague fellows in the cloaks asleep in the shade on the steps and
the big wheels of the carts of the bulls and the old castle thousands of
years old yes and those handsome Moors all in white and turbans like kings
asking you to sit down in their little bit of a shop and Ronda with the
old windows of the posadas 2 glancing eyes a lattice hid for her lover to
kiss the iron and the wineshops half open at night and the castanets and
the night we missed the boat at Algeciras the watchman going about serene
with his lamp and O that awful deepdown torrent O and the sea the sea
crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in
the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and the pink and
blue and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums
and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain
yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall
I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought
well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again
yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and
first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could
feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I
said yes I will Yes.</p>
<p>Trieste-Zurich-Paris 1914-1921</p>
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