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第44章

  Atfourshe。WinsomelysheonBloohimwhomsmiled。Bloosmiquigo。Ternoon。
  Thinkyou’retheonlypebbleonthebeach?Doesthattoall。Formen。
  Indrowsysilencegoldbentonherpage。
  Fromthesaloonacallcame,longindying。Thatwasatuningforkthetunerhadthatheforgotthathenowstruck。Acallagain。Thathenowpoisedthatitnowthrobbed。Youhear?Itthrobbed,pure,purer,softlyandsoftlier,itsbuzzingprongs。Longerindyingcall。
  Patpaidfordiner’spopcorkedbottle:andovertumblertrayandpopcorkedbottleerehewenthewhispered,baldandbothered,withMissDouce。
  Thebrightstarsfade……
  Avoicelesssongsangfromwithin,singing:……themornisbreaking。
  Aduodeneofbirdnoteschirrupedbrighttrebleanswerundersensitivehands。Brightlythekeys,alltwinkling,linked,allharpsichording,calledtoavoicetosingthestrainofdewymorn,ofyouth,oflove’sleavetaking,life’s,love’smorn。
  Thedewdropspearl……
  Lenehan’slipsoverthecounterlispedalowwhistleofdecoy。
  Butlookthisway,hesaid,roseofCastille。
  Jinglejauntedbythecurbandstopped。
  Sheroseandclosedherreading,roseofCastille。Frettedforlorn,dreamilyrose。
  Didshefallorwasshepushed?heaskedher。
  Sheanswered,slighting:
  Asknoquestionsandyou’llhearnolies。
  Likelady,ladylike。
  BlazesBoylan’ssmarttanshoescreakedonthebarfloorwherehestrode。
  Yes,goldfromanearbybronzefromafar。Lenehanheardandknewandhailedhim:
  Seetheconqueringherocomes。
  Betweenthecarandwindow,warilywalking,wentBloom,unconqueredhero。Seemehemight。Theseathesaton:warm。BlackwaryhecatwalkedtowardsRichieGoulding’slegalbag,liftedaloftsaluting。
  AndIfromthee……
  Iheardyouwereround,saidBlazesBoylan。
  HetouchedtofairMissKennedyarimofhisslantedstraw。Shesmiledonhim。Butsisterbronzeoutsmiledher,preeningforhimherricherhair,abosomandarose。
  Boylanbespokepotions。
  What’syourcry?Glassofbitter?Glassofbitter,please,andasloeginforme。Wireinyet?
  Notyet。Atfourhe。Allsaidfour。
  Cowley’sredlugsandAdam’sappleinthedoorofthesheriff’soffice。
  Avoid。Gouldingachance。WhatishedoingintheOrmond?Carwaiting。
  Wait。
  Hello。Whereoffto?Somethingtoeat?Itoowasjust。Inhere。What,Ormond?BestvalueinDublin。Isthatso?Diningroom。Sittightthere。
  See,notbeseen。IthinkI’lljoinyou。Comeon。Richieledon。Bloomfollowedbag。Dinnerfitforaprince。
  MissDoucereachedhightotakeaflagon,stretchinghersatinarm,herbust,thatallbutburst,sohigh。
  O!O!jerkedLenehan,gaspingateachstretch。O!
  Buteasilysheseizedherpreyandleditlowintriumph。
  Whydon’tyougrow?askedBlazesBoylan。
  Shebronze,dealingfromherjarthicksyrupyliquorforhislips,lookedasitflowedflowerinhiscoat:whogavehim?,andsyruppedwithhervoice:
  Finegoodsinsmallparcels。
  Thatistosayshe。Neatlyshepouredslowsyrupysloe。
  Here’sfortune,Blazessaid。
  Hepitchedabroadcoindown。Coinrang。
  Holdon,saidLenehan,tillI……
  Fortune,hewished,liftinghisbubbledale。
  Sceptrewillwininacanter,hesaid。
  Iplungedabit,saidBoylanwinkinganddrinking。Notonmyown,youknow。Fancyofafriendofmine。
  LenehanstilldrankandgrinnedathistiltedaleandatMissDouce’slipsthatallbuthummed,notshut,theoceansongherlipshadtrilled。
  Idolores。Theeasternseas。
  Clockwhirred。MissKennedypassedtheirwayflower,wonderwhogave,bearingawayteatray。Clockclacked。
  MissDoucetookBoylan’scoin,struckboldlythecashregister。Itclanged。
  Clockclacked。FaironeofEgyptteasedandsortedinthetillandhummedandhandedcoinsinchange。Looktothewest。Aclack。Forme。
  Whattimeisthat?askedBlazesBoylan。Four?
  O’clock。
  Lenehan,smalleyesahungeronherhumming,bustahumming,tuggedBlazesBoylan’selbowsleeve。
  Let’shearthetime,hesaid。
  ThebagofGoulding,Collis,WardledBloombyryebloomfloweredtables。
  Aimlesshechosewithagitatedaim,baldPatattending,atablenearthedoor。Benear。Atfour。Hasheforgotten?Perhapsatrick。Notcome:whetappetite。Icouldn’tdo。Wait,wait。Pat,waiter,waited。
  SparklingbronzeazureeyedBlazure’sskybluebowandeyes。
  Goon,pressedLenehan。There’sno-one。Heneverheard……toFlora’slipsdidhie。
  High,ahighnote,pealedinthetreble,clear。
  Bronzedouce,communingwithherrosethatsankandrose,soughtBlazesBoylan’sflowerandeyes。
  Please,please。
  Hepleadedoverreturningphrasesofavowal。
  Icouldnotleavethee……
  Afterwits,MissDoucepromisedcoyly。
  No,now,urgedLenehan。Sonnezlacloche!Odo!There’sno-one。
  Shelooked。Quick。MissKennoutofearshot。Suddenbent。Twokindlingfaceswatchedherbend。
  Quaveringthechordsstrayedfromtheair,founditagain,lostchord,andlostandfounditfaltering。
  Goon!Do!Sonnez!
  Bending,shenippedapeakofskirtaboveherknee。Delayed。Tauntedthemstill,bending,suspending,withwilfuleyes。
  Sonnez!
  Smack。Sheletfreesuddeninreboundhernippedelasticgartersmackwarmagainsthersmackablewoman’swarmhosedthigh。
  Lacloche!criedgleefulLenehan。Trainedbyowner。Nosawdustthere。
  Shesmilesmirkedsuperciliouswept!aren’tmen?,but,lightwardgliding,mildshesmiledonBoylan。
  You’retheessenceofvulgarity,sheinglidingsaid。
  Boyland,eyed,eyed。Tossedtofatlipshischalice,drankoffhistinychalice,suckingthelastfatvioletsyrupydrops。Hespellboundeyeswentafterherglidingheadasitwentdownthebarbymirrors,gildedarchforgingerale,hockandclaretglassesshimmering,aspikyshell,whereitconcerted,mirrored,bronzewithsunnierbronze。
  Yes,bronzefromanearby……Sweetheart,goodbye!
  I’moff,saidBoylanwithimpatience。
  Heslidhischalicebriskaway,graspedhischange。
  Waitashake,beggedLenehan,drinkingquickly。Iwantedtotellyou。TomRochford……
  Comeontoblazes,saidBlazesBoylan,going。
  Lenehangulpedtogo。
  Gotthehornorwhat?hesaid。Wait。I’mcoming。
  Hefollowedthehastycreakingshoesbutstoodbynimblybythethreshold,salutingforms,abulkywithaslender。
  HowdoyoudoMrDollard?
  Eh?Howdo?Howdo?BenDollard’svaguebassanswered,turninganinstantfromFatherCowley’swoe。Hewon’tgiveyouanytrouble,Bob。AllBerganwillspeaktothelongfellow。We’llputabarleystrawinthatJudasIscariot’searthistime。
  Sighing,MrDedaluscamethroughthesaloon,afingersoothinganeyelid。
  Hoho,wewill,BenDollardyodledjollily。Comeon,Simon,giveusaditty。Weheardthepiano。
  BaldPat,botheredwaiter,waitedfordrinkorders,PowerforRichie。
  AndBloom?Letmesee。Notmakehimwalktwice。Hiscorns。Fournow。Howwarmthisblackis。Coursenervesabit。Refractsisit?heat。Letmesee。Cider。Yes,bottleofcider。
  What’sthat?MrDedalussaid。Iwasonlyvamping,man。
  Comeon,comeon,BenDollarcalled。Begone,dullcare。Come,Bob。
  HeambledDollard,bulkyslops,beforethemholdthatfellowwiththe:
  holdhimnowintothesaloon。HeplumpedhimDollardonthestool。Hisgoutypawsplumpedchords。Plumpedstoppedabrupt。
  BaldPatinthedoorwaymettealessgoldreturning。BotheredhewantedPowerandcider。Bronzebythewindowwatched,bronzefromafar。
  Jingleatinklejaunted。
  Bloomheardajing,alittlesound。He’soff。LightsobofbreathBloomsighedonthesilentbluehuedflowers。Jingling。He’sgone。Jingle。Hear。
  Loveandwar,Ben,MrDedalussaid。Godbewitholdtimes。
  MissDouce’sbraveeyes,unregarded,turnedfromthecrossblind,smittenbysunlight。Gone。Pensivewhoknows?,smittenthesmitinglight,sheloweredthedropblindwithaslidingcord。ShedrewdownpensivewhydidhegosoquickwhenI?aboutherbronzeoverthebarwherebaldstoodbysistergold,inexquisitecontrast,contrastinexquisitenonexquisite,slowcooldimseagreenslidingdepthofshadow,eaudeNil。
  PooroldGoodwinwasthepianistthatnight,FatherCowleyremindedthem。TherewasaslightdifferenceofopinionbetweenhimselfandtheCollardgrand。
  Therewas。
  Asymposiumallhisown,MrDedalussaid。Thedevilwouldn’tstophim。Hewasacrotchetyoldfellowintheprimarystageofdrink。
  God,doyouremember?BenbulkyDollardsaid,turningfromthepunishedkeyboard。AndbyJapersIhadnoweddinggarment。
  Theylaughedallthree。Hehadnowed。Alltriolaughed。Noweddinggarment。
  OurfriendBloomturnedinhandythatnight,MrDedalussaid。Where’smypipebytheway?
  Hewanderedbacktothebartothelostchordpipe。BaldPatcarriedtwodiners’drinks,RichieandPoldy。AndFatherCowleylaughedagain。
  Isavedthesituation,Ben,Ithink。
  Youdid,averredBenDollard。Irememberthosetighttrouserstoo。
  Thatwasabrilliantidea,Bob。
  FatherCowleyblushedtohisbrilliantpurplylobes。Hesavedthesitua。
  Tighttrou。Brilliantide。
  Iknewhewasontherocks,hesaid。ThewifewasplayingthepianointhecoffeepalaceonSaturdaysforaverytriflingconsiderationandwhowasitgavemethewheezeshewasdoingtheotherbusiness?Doyouremember?WehadtosearchallHollesstreettofindthemtillthechapinKeogh’sgaveusthenumber。Remember?
  Benremembered,hisbroadvisagewondering。
  ByGodshehadsomeluxuriousoperacloaksandthingsthere。
  MrDedaluswanderedback,pipeinhand。
  Merrionsquarestyle。Balldresses,byGod,andcourtdresses。Hewouldn’ttakeanymoneyeither。What?AnyGod’squantityofcockedhatsandbolerosandtrunkhose。What?
  Ay,ay,MrDedalusnodded。MrsMarionBloomhasleftoffclothesofalldescriptions。
  Jinglehaunteddownthequays。Blazessprawledonboundingtyres。
  Liverandbacon。Steakandkidneypie。Right,sir。Right,Pat。
  MrsMarionmethimpikehoses。SmellofburnofPauldeKock。Nicenamehe。
  What’sthishernamewas?Abuxomlassy。Marion。
  Tweedy。
  Yes。Isshealive?
  Andkicking。
  Shewasadaughterof……
  Daughteroftheregiment。