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。
第44章