第25章

Wait。Thosepoorbirds。

HehaltedagainandboughtfromtheoldapplewomantwoBanburycakesforapennyandbrokethebrittlepasteandthrewitsfragmentsdownintotheLiffey。Seethat？Thegullsswoopedsilentlytwo，thenall，fromtheirheights，pouncingonprey。Gone。Everymorsel。

Awareoftheirgreedandcunningheshookthepowderycrumbfromhishands。Theyneverexpectedthat。Manna。Liveonfishyfleshtheyhaveto，allseabirds，gulls，seagoose。SwansfromAnnaLiffeyswimdownheresometimestopreenthemselves。Noaccountingfortastes。Wonderwhatkindisswanmeat。

RobinsonCrusoehadtoliveonthem。

Theywheeled，flappingweakly。I’mnotgoingtothrowanymore。Pennyquiteenough。LotofthanksIget。Notevenacaw。Theyspreadfootandmouthdiseasetoo。Ifyoucramaturkey，say，onchestnutmealittasteslikethat。Eatpiglikepig。Butthenwhyisitthatsaltwaterfisharenotsalty？Howisthat？

Hiseyessoughtanswerfromtheriverandsawarowboatrockatanchoronthetreaclyswellslazilyitsplasteredboard。

Kino’s11/-

Trousers。

Goodideathat。Wonderifhepaysrenttothecorporation。Howcanyouownwaterreally？It’salwaysflowinginastream，neverthesame，whichinthestreamoflifewetrace。Becauselifeisastream。Allkindofplacesaregoodforads。Thatquackdoctorfortheclapusedtobestuckupinallthegreenhouses。Neverseeitnow。Strictlyconfidential。DrHyFranks。

Didn’tcosthimaredlikeMaginnithedancingmasterselfadvertisement。

Gotfellowstostickthemuporstickthemuphimselfforthatmatterontheq。t。runningintoloosenabutton。Flybynight。Justtheplacetoo。

POSTNOBILLS。POST110PILLS。Somechapwithadoseburninghim。

Ifhe……

O！

Eh？

No……No。

No，no。Idon’tbelieveit。Hewouldn’tsurely？

No，no。

MrBloommovedforwardraisinghistroubledeyes。Thinknomoreaboutthat。Afterone。Timeballontheballastofficeisdown。Dunsinktime。

FascinatinglittlebookthatisofsirRobertBall’s。Parallax。Ineverexactlyunderstood。There’sapriest。Couldaskhim。Parit’sGreek：parallel，parallax。MethimpikehosesshecalledittillItoldheraboutthetransmigration。

Orocks！

MrBloomsmiledOrocksattwowindowsoftheballastoffice。She’srightafterall。Onlybigwordsforordinarythingsonaccountofthesound。

She’snotexactlywitty。Canberudetoo。BlurtoutwhatIwasthinking。

StillIdon’tknow。SheusedtosayBenDollardhadabasebarreltonevoice。

Hehaslegslikebarrelsandyou’dthinkhewassingingintoabarrel。

Now，isn’tthatwit？TheyusedtocallhimbigBen。Nothalfaswittyascallinghimbasebarreltone。Appetitelikeanalbatross。Getoutsideofabaronofbeef。PowerfulmanhewasatstoringawaynumberoneBass。BarrelofBass。See？itallworksout。

Aprocessionofwhitesmockedmenmarchedslowlytowardshimalongthegutter，scarletsashesacrosstheirboards。Bargains。Likethatpriesttheyarethismorning：wehavesinned：wehavesuffered。Hereadthescarletlettersontheirfivetallwhitehats：H。E。L。Y。S。WisdomHely’s。Y

laggingbehinddrewachunkofbreadfromunderhisforeboard，crammeditintohismouthandmunchedashewalked。Ourstaplefood。Threebobaday，walkingalongthegutters，streetafterstreet。Justkeepskinandbonetogether，breadandskilly。TheyarenotBoyl：no：M’Glade’smen。

Doesn’tbringinanybusinesseither。Isuggestedtohimaboutatransparentshowcartwithtwosmartgirlssittinginsidewritingletters，copybooks，envelopes，blottingpaper。Ibetthatwouldhavecaughton。Smartgirlswritingsomethingcatchtheeyeatonce。Everyonedyingtoknowwhatshe’swriting。Gettwentyofthemroundyouifyoustareatnothing。Haveafingerinthepie。Womentoo。Curiosity。Pillarofsalt，Wouldn’thaveitofcoursebecausehedidn’tthinkofithimselffirst。OrtheinkbottleIsuggestedwithafalsestainofblackcelluloid。HisideasforadslikePlumtree’spottedundertheobituaries，coldme