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?
LYNCHHoopla!Heliftshercarriesherandbumpsherdownonthesofa。
STEPHENThefoxcrew,thecocksflew,ThebellsinheavenWerestrikingeleven。’TistimeforherpoorsoulTogetoutofheaven。
BLOOMQuietlylaysahalfsovereignonthetablebetweenBellaandFlorry。So。Allowme。Hetakesupthepoundnote。Threetimesten。We’resquare。
BELLAAdmiringly。You’resuchaslyboots,oldcocky。Icouldkissyou。
ZOEPoints。Hum?Deepasadrawwell。LynchbendsKittybackoverthesofaandkissesher。BloomgoeswiththepoundnotetoStephen。
BLOOMThisisyours。
STEPHENHowisthat?Ledistraitorabsentmindedbeggar。Hefumblesagaininhispocketanddrawsoutahandfulofcoins。Anobjectfalls。Thatfell。
BLOOMStooping,picksupandhandsaboxofmatches。This。
STEPHENLucifer。Thanks。
BLOOMQuietly。Youhadbetterhandoverthatcashtometotakecareof。Whypaymore?
STEPHENHandshimallhiscoins。Bejustbeforeyouaregenerous。
BLOOMIwillbutisitwise?Hecounts。One,seven,eleven,andfive。Six。Eleven。Idon’tanswerforwhatyoumayhavelost。
STEPHENWhystrikingeleven?Proparoxyton。MomentbeforethenextLessingsays。Thirstyfox。Helaughsloudly。Buryinghisgrandmother。
Probablyhekilledher。
BLOOMThatisonepoundsixandeleven。Onepoundseven,say。
STEPHENDoesn’tmatteraramblingdamn。
BLOOMNo,but……
STEPHENComestothetable。Cigarette,please。Lynchtossesacigarettefromthesofatothetable。AndsoGeorginaJohnsonisdeadandmarried。Acigaretteappearsonthetable。Stephenlooksatit。Wonder。Parlourmagic。Married。Hm。Hestrikesamatchandproceedstolightthecigarettewithenigmaticmelancholy。
LYNCHWatchinghim。Youwouldhaveabetterchanceoflightingitifyouheldthematchnearer。
STEPHENBringsthematchnearerhiseye。Lynxeye。Mustgetglasses。Brokethemyesterday。Sixteenyearsago。Distance。Theeyeseesallflat。Hedrawsthematchaway。Itgoesout。Brainthinks。
Near:far。Ineluctablemodalityofthevisible。Hefrownsmysteriously。
Hm。Sphinx。Thebeastthathastwobacksatmidnight。Married。
ZOEItwasacommercialtravellermarriedherandtookherawaywithhim。
FLORRYNods。MrLambefromLondon。
STEPHENLambofLondon,whotakestawaythesinsofourworld。
LYNCHEmbracingKittyonthesofa,chantsdeeply。Donanobispacem。
ThecigaretteslipsfromStephensfingers。Bloompicksitupandthrowsitintothegrate。
BLOOMDon’tsmoke。Yououghttoeat。CurseddogImet。ToZoe。
Youhavenothing?
ZOEIshehungry?
STEPHENExtendshishandtohersmilingandchantstotheairofthebloodoathintheDuskoftheGods。HangendeHunger,FragendeFrau,Machtunsallekaput。ZOETragically。Hamlet,Iamthyfather’sgimlet!Shetakeshishand。Blueeyedbeauty,I’llreadyourhand。Shepointstohisforehead。Nowit,nowrinkles。Shecounts。Two,three,Mars,that’scourage。Stephenshakeshishead。Nokid。
LYNCHSheetlightningcourage。Theyouthwhocouldnotshiverandshake。
ToZoe。Whotaughtyoupalmistry?
ZOETurns。AskmyballocksthatIhaven’tgot。ToStephen。
Iseeitinyourface。Theeye,likethat。Shefrownswithloweredhead。
LYNCHLaughing,slapsKittybehindtwice。Likethat。Pandybat。
Twiceloudlyapandybatcracks,thecoffinofthepianolafliesopen,thebaldlittleroundjack-in-the-boxheadofFatherDolanspringsup。
FATHERDOLANAnyboywantflogging?Brokehisglasses?Lazyidlelittleschemer。Seeitinyoureye。
Mild,benign,rectorial,reproving,theheadofDonJohnConmeerisesfromthepianolacoffin。
DONJOHNCONMEENow,FatherDolan!Now。I’msurethatStephenisaverygoodlittleboy。
ZOEExaminingStephen’spalm。Woman’shand。
STEPHENMurmurs。Continue。Lie。Holdme。Caress。InevercouldreadHishandwritingexceptHiscriminalthumbprintonthehaddock。
ZOEWhatdaywereyouborn?
STEPHENThursday。Today。
ZOEThursday’schildhasfartogo。Shetraceslinesonhishand。
Lineoffate。Influentialfriends。
FLORRYPointing。Imagination。
ZOEMountofthemoon。You’llmeetwitha……Shepeersathishandsabruptly。Iwon’ttellyouwhat’snotgoodforyou。Ordoyouwanttoknow?
BLOOMDetachesherfingersandoffershispalm。Moreharmthangood。Here。Readmine。
BELLAShow。SheturnsupBloom’shand。Ithoughtso。Knobbyknuckles,forthewomen。
ZOEPeeringatBloom’spalm。Gridiron。Travelsbeyondtheseaandmarrymoney。
BLOOMWrong。
ZOEQuickly。O,Isee。Shortlittlefinger。Henpeckedhusband。
Thatwrong?
BlackLiz,ahugeroosterhatchinginachalkedcircle,rises,stretchesherwingsandclucks。
BLACKLIZGara。Klook。Klook。Klook。
Shesidlesfromhernewlaideggandwaddlesoff。
BLOOMPointstohishand。Thatwealthereisanaccident。Fellandcutittwenty-twoyearsago。Iwassixteen。
ZOEIsee,saystheblindman。Tellusnews。
STEPHENSee?Movestoonegreatgoal。Iamtwentytwotoo。SixteenyearsagoItwentytwotumbled,twentytwoyearsagohesixteenfelloffhishobbyhorse。
Hewinces。Hurtmyhandsomewhere。Mustseeadentist。Money?
ZoewhisperstoFlorry。Theygiggle。Bloomreleaseshishandandwritesidlyonthetableinbackhand,pencillingslowcurves。
FLORRYWhat?
Ahackneycarnumberthreehundredandtwentyfour,withagallantbuttockedmare,drivenbyJamesBarton,HarmonyAvenue,Donnybrook,trotspast。BlazesBoylanandLenehansprawlswayingonthesideseats。TheOrmondbootscrouchesbehindontheaxle。SadlyoverthecrossblindLydiaDouceandMinaKennedygaze。
THEBOOTSJogging,mocksthemwiththumbandwrigglingwormfingers。
Haw,haw,haveyouthehorn?
Bronzebygoldtheywhisper。
ZOEToFlorry。Whisper。
Theywhisperagain。
OverthewellofthecarBlazesBoylanleans,hisboaterstrawsetsideways,aredflowerinhismouth。Lenehan,inayachtsman’scapandwhiteshoes,officiouslydetachesalonghairfromBlazesBoylansshoulder。
LENEHANHo!WhatdoIherebehold?Wereyoubrushingthecobwebsoffafewquims?
BOYLANSeated,smiles。Pluckingaturkey。
LENEHANAgoodnight’swork。
BOYLANHoldingupfourthickbluntungulatedfingers,winks。
BlazesKate!Uptosampleoryourmoneyback。Heholdsoutaforefinger。
Smellthat。
LENEHANSmellsgleefully。Ah!Lobsterandmayonnaise。Ah!
ZOEANDFLORRYLaughtogether。Hahahaha。
BOYLANbumpssurelyfromthecarandcallsloudlyforalltohear。
Hello,Bloom!MrsBloomupyet?
BLOOMInaflunkey’splumplushcoatandkneebreeches,buffstockingsandpowderedwig。I’mafraidnot,sir,thelastarticles……
BOYLANTosseshimsixpence。Here,tobuyyourselfaginandsplash。HehangshishatsmartlyonapegofBloom’santleredhead。
Showmein。Ihavealittleprivatebusinesswithyourwife。Youunderstand?
BLOOMThankyou,sir。Yes,sir,MadamTweedyisinherbath,sir。
MARIONHeoughttofeelhimselfhighlyhonoured。Sheplopssplashingoutofthewater。Raoul,darling,comeanddryme。I’minmypelt。
Onlymynewhatandacarriagesponge。
BOYLANAmerrytwinkleinhiseye。Topping!
BELLAWhat?Whatisit?
Zoewhisperstoher。
MARIONLethimlook,thepishogue!Pimp!Andscourgehimself!I’llwritetoapowerfulprostituteorBartholomona,thebeardedwoman,toraisewealsoutonhimaninchthickandmakehimbringmebackasignedandstampedreceipt。
BELLALaughing。Hohohoho。
BOYLANToBloom,overhisshoulder。YoucanapplyyoureyetothekeyholeandplaywithyourselfwhileIjustgothroughherafewtimes。
BLOOMThankyou,sir,Iwill,sir。MayIbringtwomenchumstowitnessthedeedandtakeasnapshot?Heholdsanointmentjar。Vaseline,sir?Orangeflower?……Lukewarmwater?……
KITTYFromthesofa。Tellus,Florry。Tellus。What。
Florrywhisperstoher。Whisperinglovewordsmurmurlip-lappingloudly,poppysmicplopslop。
MINAKENNEDYHereyesupturned。O,itmustbelikethescentofgeraniumsandlovelypeaches!O,hesimplyidoliseseverybitofher!
Stucktogether!Coveredwithkisses!
LYDIADOUCEHermouthopening。Yumyum。O,he’scarryingherroundtheroomdoingit!Rideacockhorse。YoucouldheartheminParisandNewYork。Likemouthfulsofstrawberriesandcream。
KITTYLaughing。Heeheehee。
第106章