We read till "Is it little sister Monica!" (Penguin 307.3) (Gabler 10.716)
On these pages we witness - almost surreptitiously - how various Dubliners spend their time on this spring morning, the 16th of June 1904.
Tom Rochford demonstrates a mechanical devise (which was mentioned already on page 294, Penguin) to Nosey Flynn, Lenehan and M'Coy.
We follow the conversation between Lenehan and M'Coy as they walk down Sycamore street. Of the two, Lenehan is the one who has many tales to tell. To start with he is full of praise for Tom Rochford, who had once got down a manhole and had rescued a worker stuck inside. They think of the Gold Cup (horse) race that was taking place that afternoon at Ascot Heath. Under Merchant's arch, they see a dark-backed figure looking at books on a hawker's cart. This glimpse of Mr Bloom inspires Lenehan to recite in great detail how once he had shared a ride late at night with Bloom and his wife after the annual dinner at Glencree reformatory. Lenehan's description of how every jolt the bloody car gave, gave him the chance of bumping up against her leaves M'Coy unmoved damping Lenehan's spirits.
We also observe how our Bloom turns over idly pages of many books in a shabby bookshop before deciding to buy for Molly the book, Sweets of sin, that is 'full of revolting sentimentality' as Lady Bracknell puts it in The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscal Wilde. (Of course Lady Bracknell was not opining about Sweets of sin, rather about a novel by a Ms. Prism.)
We wait with Dilly Dedalus for her father in front of Dillon's auction rooms. We had known from an earlier scene with Katey, Maggy and Boody Dedalus that Dilly had gone to meet (their) father. Dilly wants to get some money from him. When Simon Dedalus finally turns up there, he tries at first to distract Dilly from her intentions. On being asked directly whether he got any money, he tells her, 'there is no one in Dublin would lend me fourpence.' But Dilly is obviously an old hand at this game. She manages to extract a shilling and two pennies from her father. Simon Dedalus, not charmed by his daughter's insistence, walks off, murmuring to himself. As he hands over two copper pennies to Dilly, telling her to get a glass of milk for herself and a bun, the viceregal cavalcade passes.
Thus we witness, as if we are observing from a bird's vantage point, simultaneous occurrences at different locations. The events mentioned above interspersed with many that are not mentioned here make us feel that these Dubliners are going about their normal affairs, and that this 16th of June is after all a very normal day.
On these pages we witness - almost surreptitiously - how various Dubliners spend their time on this spring morning, the 16th of June 1904.
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We follow the conversation between Lenehan and M'Coy as they walk down Sycamore street. Of the two, Lenehan is the one who has many tales to tell. To start with he is full of praise for Tom Rochford, who had once got down a manhole and had rescued a worker stuck inside. They think of the Gold Cup (horse) race that was taking place that afternoon at Ascot Heath. Under Merchant's arch, they see a dark-backed figure looking at books on a hawker's cart. This glimpse of Mr Bloom inspires Lenehan to recite in great detail how once he had shared a ride late at night with Bloom and his wife after the annual dinner at Glencree reformatory. Lenehan's description of how every jolt the bloody car gave, gave him the chance of bumping up against her leaves M'Coy unmoved damping Lenehan's spirits.
We also observe how our Bloom turns over idly pages of many books in a shabby bookshop before deciding to buy for Molly the book, Sweets of sin, that is 'full of revolting sentimentality' as Lady Bracknell puts it in The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscal Wilde. (Of course Lady Bracknell was not opining about Sweets of sin, rather about a novel by a Ms. Prism.)
We wait with Dilly Dedalus for her father in front of Dillon's auction rooms. We had known from an earlier scene with Katey, Maggy and Boody Dedalus that Dilly had gone to meet (their) father. Dilly wants to get some money from him. When Simon Dedalus finally turns up there, he tries at first to distract Dilly from her intentions. On being asked directly whether he got any money, he tells her, 'there is no one in Dublin would lend me fourpence.' But Dilly is obviously an old hand at this game. She manages to extract a shilling and two pennies from her father. Simon Dedalus, not charmed by his daughter's insistence, walks off, murmuring to himself. As he hands over two copper pennies to Dilly, telling her to get a glass of milk for herself and a bun, the viceregal cavalcade passes.
Thus we witness, as if we are observing from a bird's vantage point, simultaneous occurrences at different locations. The events mentioned above interspersed with many that are not mentioned here make us feel that these Dubliners are going about their normal affairs, and that this 16th of June is after all a very normal day.
