Episode 10
A LABYRINTH OF STREETS 3.00 P.M.
Father John Conmee is walking to Artane College to organize for Paddy Dignam’s son to attend this school for orphans. He gives a one legged sailor his blessing but not the silver coin in his purse. He is very gracious in his conversation with the wife of David Sheehy, Member of Parliament. He is rather pleased to think his silk hat and polished teeth will have made a good impression. He regards himself as a big improvement on Father Bernard Vaughan who was a bit of a maverick although from a good Welsh family. He gets some boys from Belvedere private school to post a letter for him. The Professor of Dancing dressed in elegant colours and with an air of importance moves onto the curb stone to make room for Lady Maxwell. Father Conmee impressed by Mrs McGuinness’s stateliness salutes her, in spite of her being only a pawnbroker. He tries to be charitable in his thoughts about the Free Church as he walks past and reads the notice. On North Circular road he responds to the respectful salute of some Christian Brother boys. He raises his hat as he passes Saint Joseph’s and thinks that the virtuous females who reside there are often bad tempered. He walks on greeting various shopkeepers. Father Conmee enjoys the romantic image of the straw hatted bargeman with his load of turf. He hops on a tram at Newcomen Bridge to avoid walking through the dingy area of Mud Island. The demeanor of the other passengers is however a bit too sober for Father Conmee and he notices an earnest old woman get out at the end of the penny fare. A grin from the big lipped Mr Eugene Stratton reminds him of all the black souls which need saving in Africa. Father Conmee gets off the tram at Malahide and enjoys a fantasy about old times when Lord Talbot of Malahide would have resided in the area and the associated scandals. A summer day with a few white clouds makes the fields of cabbages look lovely. He often walks in the fields of Clongowes school to read his office and now he takes out his breviary and begins to read quietly to himself. A flustered young couple crawl through a hedge with bits of twigs and grass on their clothing. Father Conmee blesses them gravely and continues with his office.
Cornet Kelleher takes a break after finishing the building of a coffin and comes to the door to chat with a passing Constable and notices Molly toss a coin from a window.
The one legged sailor continues along Eccles Street and goes past Katey and Boody Dedalus as he growls out his salute to England. A worried J.J. Molloy is sent to find Mr Lambert at his warehouse. Molly still in her petticoat is the only house that responds to the old sailor and she stops whistling to toss a coin over the railing. Two barefoot urchins run to collect the coin and give it to the beggar.
Katey and Boody Dedalas arrive home but have had no luck selling some old books. Maggy has made pea soup courtesy of a donation from the nuns. Dilly has gone to meet their father Simon. When Boody makes a disrespectful comment about him her older sister pulls her into line. The Elijah flyer tossed in the Liffey by Bloom is still floating along.
Blazes Boylan flirts with the girl at Thornton’s as he orders a basket of fruit ostensibly for an invalid and sends them to Eccles Street. He gallantly places a red carnation in his buttonhole and asks to use the telephone.
Near Trinity College, Stephen, while watching the tourists is approached by the musician Almidano Artifoni who talks to him about his singing voice which could, he tells him, be developed into a lucrative career. A band of Highland soldiers make their way through the gates of Trinity. Almidano Artifoni tries to signal the Dalkey tram.
Miss Dunne at Blazes Boylan’s office puts away a love story, to type a letter. She is absorbed in her plans for the evening when her boss rings and asks her to book train tickets for Belfast and Liverpool. Lenehan the sports writer has left a message that he will meet Boylan at the Ormond at four o’ clock.
A clergyman is interested in the heritage building which is Ned Lambert’s warehouse and J.J. Molloy arrives as he is finishing an inspection. J.J. Molloy makes a joke about it being a good hideaway for smuggling arms and Ned Lambert is reminded of another historic story for the intelligent young clergyman. Ned Lambert sneezes as they pass by some horses forcing J.J. Molloy who is on tender hooks to delay telling him what he wants from this visit.
Tom Rochford is demonstrating his invention to Nosey Flynn, McCoy and Lenehan who has undertaken to discuss it with Blazes Boylan at a four o clock meeting at the Ormond Hotel. McCoy and Lenehan stop to inspect the manhole into which Tom Rochford climbed to rescue a gas worker. They detour to check the starting price of Sceptre running in the Gold Cup. Banton Lyons is putting money on a complete outsider because he has been given a tip inadvertently by Bloom. They spot Bloom at the street cart looking through some books. Lenehan says that Bloom is very discerning and has made some great purchases and knows about astronomy. Master Dignam walks by carrying pork steaks. Lenehan confides in McCoy a racy night with Molly jostling against her breasts in the carriage when they were all tipsy after a grand dinner. He jokes about being lost in the milky way and laughs till he is weak. He does not however ridicule Bloom; rather, he thinks him a very cultured man.
Bloom searches through titles from Aristotle to tales about the ghetto until he finds some titillating romantic novels. The courts across the road rule on property disputes. Bloom standing in the dusty shop copes with the proprietor coughing up phlegm as he buys The Sweets of Sin for Molly.
Dilly Dedalus has patiently waited for her father outside the auction rooms. He arrives instructing her to stand up straight by way of greeting and then mimics a hunch-back to drive home the point. Dilly is not amused and wants to know if he got any money. The clanging of the bell in front on the auction house punctuates a show down between father and daughter who persists until she gets a few coppers in spite of outrageous lies and comments from her father.
Mr Kernan has just closed a decent order and is puffed out with the success of the transaction. He celebrates with a stiff gin and talks with an air of authority about the latest news of the loss of life from an explosion on a ship because there were no lifeboats. He declares America even worse than Ireland and he dismisses it as containing the dregs of every other country.
Father Cowley stops to talk to Simon Dedalus. Mr Kernan primed from the gin admires his very smart second hand outfit and the good impression it allows him to create. He thinks of the young hero Robert Emmet and is critical of a car dangerously parked,
the fault, no doubt, of some idiot from the country.
Mrs Breen is following her dotty husband from one solicitor to another because John Henry Menton left them waiting over an hour. Mr Kernan’s mind continues to race as he glows with success and gin. He just misses an opportunity to salute the Vice Regal cavalcade. Stephen Dedalus looks at a jeweler at work on his precious stones in a dusty shop. His long beard makes Stephen think of ancient times and Antisthenes. The midwife and her companion have made their way from Sandymount strand to Irishtown.
Stephen moves away from the noise of the powerhouse and looks at a boxing poster on Bedford Row. He stops at the book cart and searches through to try and find any of his school prizes pawned by the family. Dilly his sister approaches him as he is absorbed in reading an evocation by a blessed Abbott. She asks him what he is doing and Stephen thinks of their intimate chats late at night about Paris and her little bracelet, a present from Dan Kelly. She has bought a book to learn French and feels a little exposed but Stephen tries to act as though it is a normal purchase. Stephan holds back from the fondness and intimacy aware that to make a bold strike with his own life will be impossible if he gets swallowed by the poverty and misery of his family.
Father Cowley confides in Simon Dedalus his dilemma of being harassed with a writ and says he is waiting for Ben Dollard who is going to intervene on his behalf with Long John. Ben Dollard arrives jauntily wearing a suit that is too large for him, and scratching his backside. Simon Dedalus flicks off specks of fluff from his jacket. In reply to a comment from Father Cowley he sings a deep note to let him know his voice is in fine fettle. He leads them off to the bailiff’s office to negotiate and suggests that as Father Cowley’s landlord, the Rev. Mr. Love has the prior claim and those fellows with the writ are wasting their time.
Martin Cunningham has organized with Father Conmee to get Master Dignam a place at Artane Boys School. They salute the Councilors on the steps as they are coming out of Dublin Castle. John Wyse Nolan mentions with a note of surprise that the Jewish Bloom has contributed five shillings to the Dignam family.
Martin Cunningham heads purposively towards Jimmy Henry the assistant town clerk and the sub sheriff Long John Fanning in the Council Chambers. He wants to sort out the finances of Paddy Dignam. John Wyse Nolan goes to the doorway to view the Vice Regal cavalcade go past in the shimmering sunlight.
Buck Mulligan has caught up with Haines and identifies for him Parnell’s brother who is playing chess in the corner of the teashop as they sit down and order two melanges and scones and cream. Haines has his book of Irish folk songs. He dismisses with an innate confidence the angst of Stephen Dedalus and Hamlet as the lot of deranged minds.
Mulligan joins in the betrayal and laughs describing Stephen’s drunken gait and his nickname for him, wandering Aengus. Haines says that men like Stephen always have a fixed idea. Mulligan suggests it is an obsession with hell that prohibits him from connecting with the joy of creation. Haines quickly concludes that his idee fixe is Eternal Punishment. Mulligan is more interested in the waitress and the cakes as Haines evaluates Stephen’s theory that the moral idea and the concept of hell is lacking from Irish myth. They enjoy large helpings of sugar and cream. Mulligan laughs that Stephen says he will write something in ten years. They move on to discuss the cream. The Elijah flyer still floats in the Liffey.
Almodano Artifoni walks past Holles Street Hospital followed by Cashel Boyle O’ Connor Fitzaurice Tisdall Farrell, who stops to read the Elijah poster stuck on the Metropolitan Hall. Murmuring incoherent gabble he bumps unawares against the cane of the blind man who proceeds to vehemently curse him.
Master Dignam is relieved to be out on an errand away from the parlour and the crying women. He studies a boxing poster and thinks that he could easily get there now he only has to deal with his mother. He tries to straighten his collar and is disappointed when he discovers that the fight is already over. The Marie Kendall poster reminds him of the pictures in the cigarette packets that his friend got belted for by his father. He spots Blazes Boylan dressed up with his carnation. He will have tomorrow off school and his name will be in the papers because he is in mourning. His father’s face was gray in the coffin and they bumped it coming down the stairs. The last time he saw him alive he was bawling drunk and wanting his boots to go out for more. When he lay dying and gasping for air he asked his son to take care of his mother. Anyway he should be in purgatory because he went to confession the previous Saturday.
The Earl and Lady Dudley lead a cavalcade of carriages from Phoenix Park. Citizens stop, to salute the representative of Her Majesty, except Mr Dudley White B.L., M.A. on Arran Quay. The barmaids look out through the blinds at the Ormond Hotel. His Excellency salutes Mr Simon Dedalus. Gerty McDowell’s eager efforts to see what Lady Dudley is wearing are prevented by a stupid furniture van as would only happen at such a vital moment. John Wyse Nolan gives a cold hidden smile from the window of Kavanagh’s wine rooms. Tom Rochford lifts his cap to Lady Dudley. Mulligan, Haines and Parnell’s brother all look from the cake shop, each one, reflecting a different attitude. John Henry Menton holds his gold watch and stares ahead from wine inebriated eyes. Mrs Breen rescues her husband from going under the wheels, who has surprised the Honorable Gerald Ward in the second carriage by formally saluting him. ‘H’ stops the line of letters to let the outriders past. Mr Maginni, Professor of Dancing, is not saluted to from the carriages in spite of his bright colours. Blazes Boylan with carnation in mouth sings My girl’s a Yorkshire girl and admires the ladies.
The Earl of Dudley discusses the music at College Park with a consort. At Finn’s Hotel Cashel Boyle O’ Connor Fitzmaurice Tisdal looks through the carriages to the window of the Austro-Hungarian vice-consulate. Master Dignam lifts his hat with greasy fingers. The Viceroy is on his way to open the Mirus bazaar to raise funds for Mercer’s hospital. They pass by a blind man and a man wearing a macintosh eating bread. Eugene Stratton with his fat lips and the midwife and her friend all view the grand cavalcade. Two schoolboys salute from the gates of a lovely old mansion, which is being entered by Almidano Artifoni