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第2章
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Lookatthesea。Whatdoesitcareaboutoffences?ChuckLoyola,Kinch,andcomeondown。TheSassenachwantshismorningrashers。

Hisheadhaltedagainforamomentatthetopofthestaircase,levelwiththeroof。

Don’tmopeoveritallday,hesaid。I’minconsequent。Giveupthemoodybrooding。

Hisheadvanishedbutthedroneofhisdescendingvoiceboomedoutofthestairhead:AndnomoreturnasideandbroodUponlove’sbittermysteryForFergusrulesthebrazencars。Woodshadowsfloatedsilentlybythroughthemorningpeacefromthestairheadseawardwherehegazed。Inshoreandfartheroutthemirrorofwaterwhitened,spurnedbylightshodhurryingfeet。Whitebreastofthedimsea。Thetwiningstresses,twobytwo。Ahandpluckingtheharpstringsmergingtheirtwiningchords。Wavewhiteweddedwordsshimmeringonthedimtide。

Acloudbegantocoverthesunslowly,shadowingthebayindeepergreen。

Itlaybehindhim,abowlofbitterwaters。Fergus’song:Isangitaloneinthehouse,holdingdownthelongdarkchords。Herdoorwasopen:shewantedtohearmymusic。SilentwithaweandpityIwenttoherbedside。

Shewascryinginherwretchedbed。Forthosewords,Stephen:love’sbittermystery。

Wherenow?

Hersecrets:oldfeatherfans,tasselleddancecards,powderedwithmusk,agaudofamberbeadsinherlockeddrawer。Abirdcagehunginthesunnywindowofherhousewhenshewasagirl。SheheardoldRoycesinginthepantomimeofTurkotheterribleandlaughedwithotherswhenhesang:IamtheboyThatcanenjoyInvisibility。Phantasmalmirth,foldedaway:muskperfumed。AndnomoreturnasideandbroodFoldedawayinthememoryofnaturewithhertoys。Memoriesbesethisbroodingbrain。Herglassofwaterfromthekitchentapwhenshehadapproachedthesacrament。Acoredapple,filledwithbrownsugar,roastingforheratthehobonadarkautumnevening。Hershapelyfingernailsreddenedbythebloodofsquashedlicefromthechildren’sshirts。

Inadream,silently,shehadcometohim,herwastedbodywithinitsloosegraveclothesgivingoffanodourofwaxandrosewood,herbreathbentoverhimwithmutesecretwords,afaintodourofwettedashes。

Herglazingeyes,staringoutofdeath,toshakeandbendmysoul。Onmealone。Theghostcandletolightheragony。Ghostlylightonthetorturedface。Herhoarseloudbreathrattlinginhorror,whileallprayedontheirknees。Hereyesonmetostrikemedown。Liliatarutilantiumteconfessorumturmacircumdet:iubilantiumtevirginumchorusexcipiat。

Ghoul!Chewerofcorpses!

Nomother。Letmebeandletmelive。

Kinchahoy!

BuckMulligan’svoicesangfromwithinthetower。Itcamenearerupthestaircase,callingagain。Stephen,stilltremblingathissoul’scry,heardwarmrunningsunlightandintheairbehindhimfriendlywords。

Dedalus,comedown,likeagoodmosey。Breakfastisready。Hainesisapologizingforwakinguslastnight。It’sallright。

I’mcoming,Stephensaid,turning。

Do,forJesus’sake,BuckMulligansaid。Formysakeandforalloursakes。

Hisheaddisappearedandreappeared。

ItoldhimyoursymbolofIrishart。Hesaysit’sveryclever。Touchhimforaquid,willyou?Aguinea,Imean。

Igetpaidthismorning,Stephensaid。

Theschoolkip?BuckMulligansaid。Howmuch?Fourquid?Lendusone。

Ifyouwantit,Stephensaid。

Fourshiningsovereigns,BuckMulligancriedwithdelight。We’llhaveagloriousdrunktoastonishthedruidydruids。Fouromnipotentsovereigns。

Heflunguphishandsandtrampeddownthestonestairs,singingoutoftunewithaCockneyaccent:O,won’twehaveamerrytimeDrinkingwhisky,beerandwine,Oncoronation,Coronationday?

O,won’twehaveamerrytimeOncoronationday?Warmsunshinemerryingoverthesea。Thenickelshaving-bowlshone,forgotten,ontheparapet。WhyshouldIbringitdown?Orleaveitthereallday,forgottenfriendship?

Hewentovertoit,helditinhishandsawhile,feelingitscoolness,smellingtheclammyslaverofthelatherinwhichthebrushwasstuck。

SoIcarriedtheboatofincensethenatClongowes。Iamanothernowandyetthesame。Aservanttoo。Aserverofaservant。

InthegloomydomedlivingroomofthetowerBuckMulligan’sgownedformmovedbrisklyaboutthehearthtoandfro,hidingandrevealingitsyellowglow。Twoshaftsofsoftdaylightfellacrosstheflaggedfloorfromthehighbarbicans:andatthemeetingoftheirraysacloudofcoalsmokeandfumesoffriedgreasefloated,turning。

We’llbechoked,BuckMulligansaid。Haines,openthatdoor,willyou?

Stephenlaidtheshavingbowlonthelocker。Atallfigurerosefromthehammockwhereithadbeensitting,wenttothedoorwayandpulledopentheinnerdoors。

Haveyouthekey?avoiceasked。

Dedalushasit,BuckMulligansaid。JaneyMack,I’mchoked。Hehowledwithoutlookingupfromthefire:

Kinch!

It’sinthelock,Stephensaid,comingforward。

Thekeyscrapedroundharshlytwiceand,whentheheavydoorhadbeensetajar,welcomelightandbrightairentered。Hainesstoodatthedoorway,lookingout。Stephenhaledhisupendedvalisetothetableandsatdowntowait。BuckMulligantossedthefryontothedishbesidehim。Thenhecarriedthedishandalargeteapotovertothetable,setthemdownheavilyandsighedwithrelief。

I’mmelting,hesaid,asthecandleremarkedwhen。

Buthush。Notawordmoreonthatsubject。Kinch,wakeup。Bread,butter,honey。Haines,comein。Thegrubisready。Blessus,OLord,andthesethygifts。Where’sthesugar?O,jay,there’snomilk。

Stephenfetchedtheloafandthepotofhoneyandthebuttercoolerfromthelocker。BuckMulligansatdowninasuddenpet。

Whatsortofakipisthis?hesaid。Itoldhertocomeaftereight。

Wecandrinkitblack,Stephensaid。There’salemoninthelocker。

O,damnyouandyourParisfads,BuckMulligansaid。IwantSandycovemilk。

Hainescameinfromthedoorwayandsaidquietly:

Thatwomaniscomingupwiththemilk。

TheblessingsofGodonyou,BuckMulligancried,jumpingupfromhischair。Sitdown。Pourouttheteathere。Thesugarisinthebag。Here,Ican’tgofumblingatthedamnedeggs。Hehackedthroughthefryonthedishandslappeditoutonthreeplates,saying:

InnominePatrisetFiliietSpiritusSancti。

Hainessatdowntopouroutthetea。

I’mgivingyoutwolumpseach,hesaid。But,Isay,Mulligan,youdomakestrongtea,don’tyou?

BuckMulligan,hewingthickslicesfromtheloaf,saidinanoldwoman’swheedlingvoice:

WhenImakesteaImakestea,asoldmotherGrogansaid。AndwhenImakeswaterImakeswater。

ByJove,itistea,Hainessaid。

BuckMulliganwentonhewingandwheedling:

SoIdo,MrsCahill,saysshe。Begob,ma’am,saysMrsCahill,Godsendyoudon’tmakethemintheonepot。

Helungedtowardshismessmatesinturnathicksliceofbread,impaledonhisknife。

That’sfolk,hesaidveryearnestly,foryourbook,Haines。FivelinesoftextandtenpagesofnotesaboutthefolkandthefishgodsofDundrum。Printedbytheweirdsistersintheyearofthebigwind。

HeturnedtoStephenandaskedinafinepuzzledvoice,liftinghisbrows:

Canyourecall,brother,ismotherGrogan’steaandwaterpotspokenofintheMabinogionorisitintheUpanishads?

Idoubtit,saidStephengravely。

Doyounow?BuckMulligansaidinthesametone。Yourreasons,pray?

Ifancy,Stephensaidasheate,itdidnotexistinoroutoftheMabinogion。MotherGroganwas,oneimagines,akinswomanofMaryAnn。

BuckMulligan’sfacesmiledwithdelight。

Charming,hesaidinafinicalsweetvoice,showinghiswhiteteethandblinkinghiseyespleasantly。Doyouthinkshewas?Quitecharming。

Then,suddenlyovercloudingallhisfeatures,hegrowledinahoarsenedraspingvoiceashehewedagainvigorouslyattheloaf:ForoldMaryAnnShedoesn’tcareadamn,But,hisingupherpetticoats……Hecrammedhismouthwithfryandmunchedanddroned。

Thedoorwaywasdarkenedbyanenteringform。

Themilk,sir。

Comein,ma’am,Mulligansaid。Kinch,getthejug。

AnoldwomancameforwardandstoodbyStephen’selbow。

That’salovelymorning,sir,shesaid。GlorybetoGod。

Towhom?Mulligansaid,glancingather。Ah,tobesure。Stephenreachedbackandtookthemilkjugfromthelocker。

Theislanders,MulligansaidtoHainescasually,speakfrequentlyofthecollectorofprepuces。

Howmuch,sir?askedtheoldwoman。

Aquart,Stephensaid。

Hewatchedherpourintothemeasureandthenceintothejugrichwhitemilk,nothers。Oldshrunkenpaps。Shepouredagainameasurefulandatilly。Oldandsecretshehadenteredfromamorningworld,maybeamessenger。

Shepraisedthegoodnessofthemilk,pouringitout。Crouchingbyapatientcowatdaybreakinthelushfield,awitchonhertoadstool,herwrinkledfingersquickatthesquirtingdugs。Theylowedaboutherwhomtheyknew,dewsilkycattle。Silkofthekineandpooroldwoman,namesgivenherinoldtimes。Awanderingcrone,lowlyformofanimmortalservingherconquerorandhergaybetrayer,theircommoncuckquean,amessengerfromthesecretmorning。Toserveortoupbraid,whetherhecouldnottell:butscornedtobegherfavour。

Itisindeed,ma’am,BuckMulligansaid,pouringmilkintotheircups。

Tasteit,sir,shesaid。

Hedrankatherbidding。

Ifwecouldonlyliveongoodfoodlikethat,hesaidtohersomewhatloudly,wewouldn’thavethecountryfullofrottenteethandrottenguts。

Livinginabogswamp,eatingcheapfoodandthestreetspavedwithdust,horsedungandconsumptives’spits。

Areyouamedicalstudent,sir?theoldwomanasked。

Iam,ma’am,BuckMulligananswered。

Stephenlistenedinscornfulsilence。Shebowsheroldheadtoavoicethatspeakstoherloudly,herbonesetter,hermedicineman;mesheslights。

Tothevoicethatwillshriveandoilforthegraveallthereisofherbutherwoman’suncleanloins,ofman’sfleshmadenotinGod’slikeness,theserpent’sprey。Andtotheloudvoicethatnowbidsherbesilentwithwonderingunsteadyeyes。

Doyouunderstandwhathesays?Stephenaskedher。

IsitFrenchyouaretalking,sir?theoldwomansaidtoHaines。

Hainesspoketoheragainalongerspeech,confidently。

Irish,BuckMulligansaid。IsthereGaeliconyou?

IthoughtitwasIrish,shesaid,bythesoundofit。Areyoufromwest,sir?

IamanEnglishman,Hainesanswered。

He’sEnglish,BuckMulligansaid,andhethinksweoughttospeakIrishinIreland。

Sureweoughtto,theoldwomansaid,andI’mashamedIdon’tspeakthelanguagemyself。I’mtoldit’sagrandlanguagebythemthatknows。

Grandisnonameforit,saidBuckMulligan。Wonderfulentirely。

Fillusoutsomemoretea,Kinch。Wouldyoulikeacup,ma’am?

No,thankyou,sir,theoldwomansaid,slippingtheringofthemilkcanonherforearmandabouttogo。

Hainessaidtoher:

Haveyouyourbill?Wehadbetterpayher,Mulligan,hadn’twe?

Stephenfilledthethreecups。

Bill,sir?shesaid,halting。Well,it’ssevenmorningsapintattwopenceisseventwosisashillingandtwopenceoverandthesethreemorningsaquartatfourpenceisthreequartsisashillingandoneandtwoistwoandtwo,sir。

BuckMulligansighedandhavingfilledhismouthwithacrustthicklybutteredonbothsides,stretchedforthhislegsandbegantosearchhistrouserpockets。

Payupandlookpleasant,Hainessaidtohimsmiling。

Stephenfilledathirdcup,aspoonfulofteacolouringfaintlythethickrichmilk。BuckMulliganbroughtupaflorin,twisteditroundinhisfingersandcried:

Amiracle!

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