第117章

Becauseiftheydidn’tbelievethey’dgostraighttoheavenwhentheydiethey’dtrytolivebetter-atleast，soIthink。That’sthejuggleonwhichthep。p。’sraisethewindonfalsepretences。I’m，heresumed，withdramaticforce，asgoodanIrishmanasthatrudepersonItoldyouaboutattheoutsetandIwanttoseeeveryone，concludedhe，allcreedsandclassesproratahavingacomfortabletidysizedincome，innoniggardfashioneither，somethingintheneighbourhoodof#300perannumThat’sthevitalissueatstakeandit’sfeasibleandwouldbeprovocativeoffriendlierintercoursebetweenmanandman。Atleastthat’smyideaforwhatit’sworth。Icallthatpatriotism。Ubipatria，aswelearnedasmallsmatteringofinourclassicaldayinAlmaMater，vitabene。

Whereyoucanlivewell，thesenseis，ifyouwork。

Overhisuntasteableapologyforacupofcoffee，listeningtothissynopsisofthingsingeneral，Stephenstaredatnothinginparticular。

Hecouldhear，ofcourse，allkindsofwordschangingcolourlikethosecrabsaboutRingsendinthemorning，burrowingquicklyintoallcoloursofdifferentsortsofthesamesandwheretheyhadahomesomewherebeneathorseemedto。Thenhelookedupandsawtheeyesthatsaidordidn’tsaythewordsthevoiceheheardsaid-ifyouwork。

Countmeout，hemanagedtoremark，meaningtowork。

Theeyesweresurprisedatthisobservation，becauseashe，thepersonwhoownedthempro。tem。observed，orrather，hisvoicespeakingdid：Allmustwork，haveto，together。

Imean，ofcourse，theotherhastenedtoaffirm，workinthewidestpossiblesense。Alsoliterarylabour，notmerelyforthekudosofthething。

Writingforthenewspaperswhichisthereadiestchannelnowadays。That’sworktoo。Importantwork。Afterall，fromthelittleIknowofyou，afterallthemoneyexpendedonyoureducation，youareentitledtorecoupyourselfandcommandyourprice。Youhaveeverybitasmuchrighttolivebyyourpeninpursuitofyourphilosophyasthepeasanthas。What？YoubothbelongtoIreland，thebrainandthebrawn。Eachisequallyimportant。

Yoususpect，Stephenretortedwithasortofahalflaugh，thatI

maybeimportantbecauseIbelongtothefaubourgSaintPatricecalledIrelandforshort。

Iwouldgoastepfarther，MrBloominsinuated。

ButIsuspect，Stepheninterrupted，thatIrelandmustbeimportantbecauseitbelongstome。

Whatbelongs？queriedMrBloom，bending，fancyinghewasperhapsundersomemisapprehension。Excuseme。UnfortunatelyIdidn’tcatchthelatterportion。Whatwasityou？……

Stephen，patentlycrosstempered，repeatedandshovedasidehismugofcoffee，Orwhateveryouliketocallit，nonetoopolitely，adding：

Wecan’tchangethecountry。Letuschangethesubject。

Atthispertinentsuggestion，MrBloom，tochangethesubject，lookeddown，butinaquandary，ashecouldn’ttellexactlywhatconstructiontoputonbelongstowhichsoundedratherafarcry。Therebukeofsomekindwasclearerthantheotherpart。Needlesstosay，thefumesofhisrecentorgyspokethenwithsomeasperityinacuriousbitterway，foreigntohissoberstate。Probablythehomelife，towhichMrBloomattachedtheutmostimportance，hadnotbeenallthatwasneedfulorhehadn’tbeenfamiliarisedwiththerightsortofpeople。Withatouchoffearfortheyoungmanbesidehim，whomhefurtivelyscrutinisedwithanairofsomeconsternationrememberinghehadjustcomebackfromParis，theeyesmoreespeciallyremindinghimforciblyoffatherandsister，failingtothrowmuchlightonthesubject，however，hebroughttomindinstancesofculturedfellowsthatpromisedsobrilliantly，nippedinthebudofprematuredecay，andnobodytoblamebutthemselves。Forinstance，therewasthecaseofO’Callaghan，forone，thehalfcrazyfaddist，respectablyconnected，thoughofinadequatemeans，withhismadvagaries，amongwhoseothergaydoingswhenrottoandmakinghimselfanuisancetoeverybodyallroundhewasinthehabitofostentatiouslysportinginpublicasuitofbrownpaper(afact)。Andthentheusualdé；nouementafterthefunhadgoneonfastandfurioushegotlandedintohotwaterandhadtobespiritedawaybyafewfriends，afterastronghinttoablindhorsefromJohnMallonofLowerCastleYard，soasnottobemadeamenableundersectiontwooftheCriminalLawAmendmentAct，certainnamesofthosesubpoenaedbeinghandedinbutnotdivulged，forreasonswhichwilloccurtoanyonewithapickofbrains。Briefly，putt