Speaker 1: Story number fifteen, Part two of Dubliner's This is a
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Speaker 1: Recorded by Hugh MacGuire. Dubliners by James Joyce, Story number fifteen,
Speaker 1: Part two, The Dead. He ran over the headings of
Speaker 1: his speech, Irish hospitality, sad Memories, the Three Graces, Paris,
Speaker 1: the quotation from Browning. He repeated to himself a phrase
Speaker 1: he had written in his review, One feels that one
Speaker 1: is listening to a thought tormented music. Miss Ivor had
Speaker 1: praised the review. Was she sincere? Had she really any
Speaker 1: life of her own? Behind all her propagandism. There had
Speaker 1: never been any ill feeling between them until that night,
Speaker 1: and unnerved him to think that she would be at
Speaker 1: the supper table looking on but him while he spoke
Speaker 1: with her critical, quizzing eyes. Perhaps she would not be
Speaker 1: sorry to see him fail in his speech. An idea
Speaker 1: came into his mind and gave him courage, he would say,
Speaker 1: alluding to Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia, Ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 1: the generation which is now on the wane among us
Speaker 1: may have had its faults, but for my part, I
Speaker 1: think it had certain qualities of hospitality, of humor, of humanity,
Speaker 1: which the new and very serious and hyper educated generation
Speaker 1: that is growing up around us seemed to me to lack.
Speaker 1: Very good That was one for Miss Ivers. What did
Speaker 1: he care that his aunts were only two ignorant old women.
Speaker 1: A murmur in the room attracted his attention. Mister Brown
Speaker 1: was advancing from the door, gallantly escorting Aunt Julia, who
Speaker 1: leaned upon his arm, smiling and hanging her head. An
Speaker 1: irregular musketry of applause esque ordered her also as far
Speaker 1: as the piano, And then as Mary Jane seated herself
Speaker 1: on the stool, and Aunt Julia, no longer smiling, half
Speaker 1: turned so as to pitch her voice fairly into the room,
Speaker 1: gradually ceased. Gabriel recognized the prelude. It was that of
Speaker 1: an old song of Aunt Julia's, arrayed for the bridle,
Speaker 1: her voice, strong and clear in tone, attacked with great
Speaker 1: spirit the runs which embellished the air, and though she
Speaker 1: sang very rapidly, she did not miss even the smallest
Speaker 1: of the grace notes. To follow the voice without looking
Speaker 1: at the singer's face, was to feel and share the
Speaker 1: excitement of swift and secure flight. Gabriel applauded loudly with
Speaker 1: all the others at the close of the song, and
Speaker 1: loud applause was borne in from the invisible supper table.
Speaker 1: It sounded so genuine that a little color struggled into
Speaker 1: Aunt Julia's face as she to replace in the music
Speaker 1: stand the old leather bound song book that had her
Speaker 1: initials on the cover. Freddy Malins, who had listened with
Speaker 1: his head perched sideways to hear her better, was still
Speaker 1: applauding when everyone else had ceased, and talking animatedly to
Speaker 1: his mother, who nodded her head gravely and slowly in acquiescence.
Speaker 1: At last, when he could clap no more, he stood
Speaker 1: up suddenly and hurried across the room to Aunt Julia,
Speaker 1: whose hand he seized and held in both his hands,
Speaker 1: shaking it when words failed him or the catch in
Speaker 1: his voice proved too much for him. I was just
Speaker 1: telling my mother, he said, I have never heard you
Speaker 1: sing so well. Never. No, I never heard your voice
Speaker 1: so good as it is to night. Now, would you
Speaker 1: believe that? Now? That's the truth, upon my word and honor,
Speaker 1: that's the truth. I have never heard your voice sound
Speaker 1: so fresh and so so clear and freshh never Aunt
Speaker 1: Julius smiled broadly and murmured something about compliments. As she
Speaker 1: released her hand from his grasp. Mister Browne extended his
Speaker 1: open hand towards her and said, to those who were
Speaker 1: near him, in the manner of a showman introducing a
Speaker 1: prodigy to an audience, Miss Julia Morcombe my latest discovery.
Speaker 1: He was laughing very heartily at this himself when Freddy
Speaker 1: Malins turned to him and said, well, brown if you're serious,
Speaker 1: you might make a worse discovery. All I can say
Speaker 1: is I never heard her singing half so well as
Speaker 1: long as I am coming here, And that's the honest truth.
Speaker 1: Neither did I said, mister brown I think her voice
Speaker 1: has greatly improved. Aunt Julius shrugged her shoulders and said,
Speaker 1: with a meek pride, thirty years ago I hadn't a
Speaker 1: bad voice, as good voices go, I often told. Julia,
Speaker 1: said Aunt Kate emphatically, that she was simply thrown away
Speaker 1: in that choir. But she never would be said by me.
Speaker 1: She turned, as if to appeal to the good sense
Speaker 1: of the others against a refractory child while Aunt Julia
Speaker 1: gazed in front of her, a vague smile of reminiscence
Speaker 1: playing on her face. No, continued Aunt Kate. She wouldn't
Speaker 1: be said or led by any one slaving there in
Speaker 1: that choir night and day, night and day, six o'clock
Speaker 1: on Christmas morning and all for what well? Isn't it
Speaker 1: for the honor of God? Aunt Kate asked Mary Jane,
Speaker 1: Twisting round on the piano'spaduel and smiling. Aunt Kate turned
Speaker 1: fiercely on her niece and said, I know all about
Speaker 1: the honor of God, Mary Jane, but I think it's
Speaker 1: not at all honorable for the Pope to turn out
Speaker 1: the women out of the choirs that have slaved there
Speaker 1: all their lives and put little whipper snappers of boys
Speaker 1: over their heads. I suppose it is for the good
Speaker 1: of the church if the Pope does it, but it's
Speaker 1: not just Mary Jane, and it's not right. She'd worked
Speaker 1: herself into a passion and would have continued in defense
Speaker 1: her sister, for it was a sore subject with her,
Speaker 1: but Mary Jane, seeing that all the dancers had come back,
Speaker 1: intervened pacifically. Now, Aunt Kate, you're giving scandal to mister Brown,
Speaker 1: who's one of the other persuasion. Aunt Kate turned to
Speaker 1: mister Brown, who was grinning at this allusion to his religion,
Speaker 1: and said, hastily, Oh, I don't question the Pope's being right.
Speaker 1: I'm only a stupid old woman, and I wouldn't presume
Speaker 1: to do such a thing. But there's such a thing
Speaker 1: as common every day politeness and gratitude. And if I
Speaker 1: were in Julia's place, i'd tell that father heally straight
Speaker 1: up to his face. And besides, Aunt Kate, said Mary Jane,
Speaker 1: we really are all hungry, and when we are hungry,
Speaker 1: we are all very quarrelsome, and when we are thirsty,
Speaker 1: we are also quarrelsome, added mister Brown. So that we
Speaker 1: had better go to supper, said Mary Jane, and finish
Speaker 1: the discussion afterwards. On the landing outside the drawing room,
Speaker 1: Gabriel found his wife and Mary Jane trying to persuade
Speaker 1: Miss Ivers to stay for supper. But Miss Ivers, who
Speaker 1: had put on her hat and was buttling her cloak,
Speaker 1: would not stay. She did not feel in the least hungry,
Speaker 1: and she had already overstayed her time, but only for
Speaker 1: ten minutes. Mollie said missus Conroy. That won't delay you.
Speaker 1: Take a pick itself, said Mary Jane. After all your dancing,
Speaker 1: I really couldn't, said miss Ivers. I'm afraid you didn't
Speaker 1: enjoy yourself at all, said Mary Jane hopelessly, ever so much,
Speaker 1: I assure you, said Miss Ivers. But you really must
Speaker 1: let me run off now. But how can you get home,
Speaker 1: asked missus Conroy. Oh, it's only two steps up the key.
Speaker 1: Gabriel hesitated a moment and said, if you will allow me,
Speaker 1: Miss Ivers, I'll see you home, if you are really
Speaker 1: obliged to go. But Miss Ivers broke away from them.
Speaker 1: I won't hear of it, she cried. For goodness sake,
Speaker 1: go into your suppers and don't mind me. I'm quite
Speaker 1: well able to take care of myself. Well, you're the
Speaker 1: comical girl, Molly, said missus Conroy. Frankly. Benach Live, cried
Speaker 1: Miss Ivers with a laugh as she ran down the staircase.
Speaker 1: Mary Jane gazed after her, a moody, puzzled expression on
Speaker 1: her face, while missus Conroy leaned over the banisters to
Speaker 1: listen for the hall door. Gabriel asked himself was he
Speaker 1: the cause of her abrupt departure, but she did not
Speaker 1: seem to be an ill humor. She had gone away laughing.
Speaker 1: He stared blankly down the staircase. At the moment, Aunt
Speaker 1: Kate came toddling out of the supper room, almost wringing
Speaker 1: her hands in despair. Where is Gabriel, she cried, Where
Speaker 1: on earth is Gabriel? There's everyone waiting in there stage
Speaker 1: to let and nobody to carve the goose. Here I am,
Speaker 1: Aunt Kate, cried Gabriel, with sudden animation, ready to carve
Speaker 1: a flock of geese if necessary. A fat brown goose
Speaker 1: lay at one end of the table, and at the
Speaker 1: other end, on a bed of creased paper strewn with
Speaker 1: springs of parsley, lay a great ham, stripped of its
Speaker 1: outer skin and peppered over with crust crumbs, a neat
Speaker 1: paper frill round its shin, and beside this was a
Speaker 1: round of spice beef. Between these rival ends ran parallel
Speaker 1: lines of side dishes. Two little ministers of jelly red
Speaker 1: and yellow, A shallow dish full of blocks of blamange
Speaker 1: and red jam. A large green leaf shaped dish with
Speaker 1: a stalk shaped handle, on which lay bunches of purple
Speaker 1: raisins and peeled almonds, a companion dish, on which lay
Speaker 1: a solid rectangle of smyrna figs, a dish of custard
Speaker 1: topped with grated nutmeg, a small bowl full of chocolates
Speaker 1: and sweets wrapped in gold and silver papers, and a
Speaker 1: glass vase in which stood some tall celery stalks. In
Speaker 1: the center of the table, there stood as sentries to
Speaker 1: a fruit stand which upheld the pyramid of oranges and
Speaker 1: American apples. Two squat old fashioned decanters of cut glass,
Speaker 1: containing port and the other dark sherry. On the closed
Speaker 1: square piano, a pudding in a huge yellow dish lay waiting,
Speaker 1: and behind it were three squads of bottles of stout
Speaker 1: and ale and minerals, drawn up according to the colors
Speaker 1: of their uniforms, the first two black with brown and
Speaker 1: red labels, the third and smallest squat and white with
Speaker 1: transverse green slashes. Gabriel took his seat boldly at the
Speaker 1: head of the table, and, having looked to the edge
Speaker 1: of the carver, plunged his fork firmly into the goose.
Speaker 1: He felt quite at ease now, for he was an
Speaker 1: expert carver and liked nothing better than to find himself
Speaker 1: at the head of a well laden table. Miss Furlong,
Speaker 1: what shall I send you, he asked, A wing or
Speaker 1: a slice of the breast, Just a small slice of
Speaker 1: the breast, Miss Higgins, What for you, oh, anything at all,
Speaker 1: Mister Conroy. While Gabriel and Miss Daly exchanged plates of
Speaker 1: goose and plates of ham and spice, beef, Lily went
Speaker 1: from guests to guess with a dish of hot, floury
Speaker 1: potatoes wrapped in a white napkin. This was Mary Jane's idea,
Speaker 1: and she had also suggested apple sauce for the goose.
Speaker 1: But Aunt Kate had said that plain roast goose without
Speaker 1: any apple sauce had always been good enough for her,
Speaker 1: and she hoped she might never eat worse. Mary Jane
Speaker 1: waited on her pupils and saw that they got the
Speaker 1: best slices, and Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia opened and
Speaker 1: carried across from the piano bottles of stout and ale
Speaker 1: for the gentlemen, and bottles of minerals for the ladies.
Speaker 1: There was a great deal of confusion and laughter and noise,
Speaker 1: the noise of orders and counter orders, of knives and
Speaker 1: forks of corks, and glass stoppers. Gabriel began to carve
Speaker 1: second helpings as soon as he had finished the first round,
Speaker 1: without serving himself. Everyone protested loudly, so that he compromised
Speaker 1: by taking a long draft of stout, for he had
Speaker 1: found the carving hot work. Mary Jane settled down quietly
Speaker 1: to her supper, but Aunt Kate and Aunt Julia were
Speaker 1: still toddling around the table, walking on each other's heels,
Speaker 1: getting in each other's way, and giving each other unheeded orders.
Speaker 1: Mister Brown begged of them to sit down and eat
Speaker 1: their suppers, and so did Gabriel, but they said there
Speaker 1: was time enough, so that at last Freddy Malins stood
Speaker 1: up and, capturing Aunt Kate, plumped her down on her
Speaker 1: chair amid general laughter. When everyone had been well served,
Speaker 1: Gabriel said, smiling, now, if anyone wants a little more
Speaker 1: of what vulgar people call stuffing, let him or her speak.
Speaker 1: A chorus of voices invited him to begin his own supper,
Speaker 1: and Lily came forward with three potatoes, which she had
Speaker 1: reserved for him. Very well, said Gabriel amiably, as he
Speaker 1: took another preparatory draft. Kindly forget my existence, ladies, and
Speaker 1: gentlemen for a few minutes. He set to his supper
Speaker 1: and took no part in the conversation with which the
Speaker 1: table covered Lily's removal of the plates. The subject of
Speaker 1: talk was the opera company, which was then the Theodore Royal.
Speaker 1: Mister bartel Darcy, the tenor, a dark complexioned young man
Speaker 1: with a smart mustache, praised very highly the leading contralto
Speaker 1: of the company, but miss Furlong thought she had a
Speaker 1: rather vulgar style of production. Freddy Malin said there was
Speaker 1: a negro chieftain singing in the second part of the
Speaker 1: Gayety Pantomime who had one of the finest tenor voices
Speaker 1: he had ever heard. Have you heard him, he asked
Speaker 1: mister bartell Darcy across the table. No, answered mister bartel
Speaker 1: Darcy carelessly, because Freddy Malin explained, now, I'd be curious
Speaker 1: to hear your opinion of him. I think he was
Speaker 1: a crand voice. It takes Teddy to find out the
Speaker 1: really good thing, said mister Brown familiarly to the table.
Speaker 1: And why couldn't he have a voice, too, asked Freddy
Speaker 1: Malin sharply. Is it because he's only a black? Nobody
Speaker 1: answered this question, and Mary Jane led the table back
Speaker 1: to the legitimate opera. One of her pupils had given
Speaker 1: her a pass for Mignon. Of course it was very fine,
Speaker 1: she said, but it made her think of poor Georgina Burns.
Speaker 1: Mister Brown could go back further still to the old
Speaker 1: Italian companies that used to come to Dublin. Tietjens, Ilma,
Speaker 1: du Murska, Cappanini, the great Trebelli, Guillini, Ravelli, Aramburo. Those
Speaker 1: were the days, he said, when there was something like
Speaker 1: singing to be heard in Dublin. He told too, of
Speaker 1: how the top gallery of the Old Royal used to
Speaker 1: be packed night after night, of how one night an
Speaker 1: Italian tenor had sung five encores to let me like
Speaker 1: a soldier fall, introducing a high sea every time, and
Speaker 1: of how the gallery boys would, sometimes, in their enthusiasm,
Speaker 1: unyoke the horses from the carriage of some great prima
Speaker 1: donna and pull her themselves through the streets to her hotel.
Speaker 1: Why did they never play the grand old operas now,
Speaker 1: he asked, Dinora Lucrezia Giorgia, because they could not get
Speaker 1: their voice sing. That was why, Oh, well, said mister Bartell, Darcy.
Speaker 1: I presume there are as good singers to day as
Speaker 1: there were then? Where are they, asked mister Brown defiantly
Speaker 1: in London? Paris Miland said mister Bartell Darcy warmly. I
Speaker 1: suppose Crusoe, for example, is quite as good, if not better,
Speaker 1: than any of the men you have mentioned. Maybe so,
Speaker 1: said mister Brown, But I may tell you I doubt
Speaker 1: it strongly. Oh I'd give anything to hear Crusoe sing,
Speaker 1: said Mary Jane. For me, said Aunt Kate, who had
Speaker 1: been picking a bone. There was only one tenor to
Speaker 1: please me. I mean, but I suppose none of you
Speaker 1: ever heard of him. Who is he, miss Morgan, asked
Speaker 1: mister Bartell Darcy politely. His name, said Aunt Kate, was Parkinson.
Speaker 1: I heard him when he was in his prime, and
Speaker 1: I think he had then the purest tenor voice that
Speaker 1: was ever put into a man's throat. Strange, said mister Bartell.
Speaker 1: Darcia never even heard of him. Yes, yes, Miss Morgan
Speaker 1: is right, said mister Brown. I remember hearing of old Parkinson,
Speaker 1: but he's too far back from me. A beautiful, pure, sweet,
Speaker 1: mellow English tenors, said Aunt Kate with enthusiasm. Gabriel having finished,
Speaker 1: the huge pudding was transferred to the table. The clatter
Speaker 1: of forks and spoons began again. Gabriel's wife served out
Speaker 1: spoonfuls of the pudding and passed the plates down the table.
Speaker 1: Midway down they were held up by Mary Jane, who
Speaker 1: replenished them with raspberry or orange jelly, or with blancmange
Speaker 1: and jam. The pudding was of Aunt Julia's making, and
Speaker 1: she received praises for it from all quarters. She herself
Speaker 1: said that it was not quite brown enough. Well, I hope,
Speaker 1: Miss Morgan, said, mister Brown, that I'm brown enough for you,
Speaker 1: because you know I'm all brown. All the gentlemen except Gabriel,
Speaker 1: ate some of the pudding out of compliment to Aunt Julia,
Speaker 1: as Gabriel never ate sweets. The cell had been left
Speaker 1: for him. Freddy Malins also took a stock of celery
Speaker 1: and ate it with his pudding. He'd been told that
Speaker 1: celery was a capital thing for the blood, and he
Speaker 1: was just then under doctor's care. Missus Mallins, who had
Speaker 1: been silent all through the supper, said that her son
Speaker 1: was going down to Mount Mellory in a week or so.
Speaker 1: The table then spoke of Mountain Mellory, how bracing the
Speaker 1: air was down there, how hospitable the monks were, and
Speaker 1: how they never asked for a penny piece from their guests.
Speaker 1: And do you mean to say, asked mister Brown, incredulously,
Speaker 1: that a chap can go down there and put up
Speaker 1: there as if it were a hotel, and live on
Speaker 1: the fat of the land, and then come away without
Speaker 1: paying anything. Oh, most people give some donation to the
Speaker 1: monastery when they leave, said Mary Jane. I wish we
Speaker 1: had an institution like that in our church, said mister
Speaker 1: Brown candidly. He was astonished to hear that the monks
Speaker 1: never spoke, got up at two in the morning and
Speaker 1: slept in their coffins. He asked what they did it for.
Speaker 1: That's the rule of the order, said Aunt Kay firmly. Yes,
Speaker 1: But why, asked mister Brown. Aunt Kate repeated that it
Speaker 1: was the rule, that was all. Mister Brown still seemed
Speaker 1: not to understand. Freddy Malins explained to him as best
Speaker 1: he could that the monks were trying to make up
Speaker 1: for the sins committed by all the sinners in the
Speaker 1: outside world. The explanation was not very clear for mister Brown,
Speaker 1: grinned and said, I liked the idea very much, but
Speaker 1: wouldn't a comfortable spring bed do them as well as
Speaker 1: a coffin. The coffin, said Mary Jane, is to remind
Speaker 1: them of their last end. As the subject had grown lugubrious,
Speaker 1: it was buried in a silence of the table, during
Speaker 1: which Missus Mallins could be heard saying to her neighbor
Speaker 1: in an indistinct undertone, they are very good men, the monks,
Speaker 1: very pious men. The raisins and almonds and figs and
Speaker 1: apples and oranges, and chocolates and sweets were now passed
Speaker 1: about the table, and Aunt Julie invited all the guests
Speaker 1: to have either port or sherry. At first, mister Bartell
Speaker 1: Darcy refused to take either, but one of his neighbors
Speaker 1: nudged him and whispered something to him, upon which he
Speaker 1: allowed his glass to be filled. Gradually, as the last
Speaker 1: glasses were being filled, the conversation ceased, a pause, followed
Speaker 1: broken only by the noise of the wine and by
Speaker 1: unsettlings of chairs. The Missus Morcan all three looked down
Speaker 1: at the tablecloth. Someone coughed once or twice. Then a
Speaker 1: few gentlemen patted the table gently as a signal for silence.
Speaker 1: The silence came, and Gabriel pushed back his chair. The
Speaker 1: padding once grew louder in encouragement, and then ceased altogether.
Speaker 1: Gabriel leaned his ten trembling fingers on the tablecloth and
Speaker 1: smiled nervously at the company, meeting a row of upturned faces.
Speaker 1: He raised his eyes to the chandelier. The piano was
Speaker 1: playing a waltz tune, and he could hear the skirts
Speaker 1: sweeping against the drawing room door. People perhaps were standing
Speaker 1: in the snow on the quay outside, gazing up at
Speaker 1: the lighted windows and listening to the waltz music. The
Speaker 1: air was pure. There in the distance lay the park,
Speaker 1: where the trees were weighted with snow. The Wellington Monument
Speaker 1: wore a gleaming cap of snow that flashed westward over
Speaker 1: the white field of fifteen acres. He began, ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 1: it has fallen to my lot this evening, as in
Speaker 1: years past, to perform a very pleasing task, but a
Speaker 1: task for which I am afraid my poor powers as
Speaker 1: a speaker are all too inadequate. No, no, said mister Brown.
Speaker 1: But however that may be, I can only ask you
Speaker 1: to night, to take the will for the deed, and
Speaker 1: to lend me your attention for a few moments while
Speaker 1: I endeavored to express to you in words what my
Speaker 1: feelings are on this occasion. Ladies and gentlemen, it is
Speaker 1: not the first time that we have gathered together under
Speaker 1: this hospitable roof, around this hospitable board. It is not
Speaker 1: the first time that we have been the recipients, or
Speaker 1: perhaps I had better say, the victims, of the hospitality
Speaker 1: of certain good ladies. He made a circle in the
Speaker 1: air with his arm and paused. Everyone laughed or smiled
Speaker 1: at Aunt Kate, and Aunt Julia and Mary Jane, who
Speaker 1: all turned crimson with pleasure. Gabriel went on more boldly,
Speaker 1: I feel more strongly with every recurring year, that our
Speaker 1: country has no tradition which does it so much honor,
Speaker 1: and which it should guard so jealously as that of
Speaker 1: its hospitality. It is a tradition that is unique as
Speaker 1: far as my experience goes, and I have visited not
Speaker 1: a few places abroad among the modern nations. Some would say,
Speaker 1: perhaps that with us it is rather a failing than
Speaker 1: anything to be boasted of. But granted, even that it
Speaker 1: is to my mind a princely failing, and one that
Speaker 1: I trust will long be cultivated among us. Of one
Speaker 1: thing at least, I am sure as long as this
Speaker 1: one roof shelters the good ladies aforesaid, and I wish
Speaker 1: from my heart it may do so for many many
Speaker 1: a long year to come. The tradition of genuine, warm hearted,
Speaker 1: courteous Irish hospitality, which our forefathers have handed down to us,
Speaker 1: and which we in turn must hand down to our descendants,
Speaker 1: is still alive among us. A hearty murmur of assent
Speaker 1: ran round the table. It shot through Gabriel's mind that
Speaker 1: Miss Ivers was not there, and that she had gone
Speaker 1: away discourteously. And he said, with confidence in himself, ladies
Speaker 1: and gentlemen, a new generation is growing up in our midst,
Speaker 1: a generation actuated by new ideas and new principles. It
Speaker 1: is serious and enthusiastic for these new ideas, and its enthusiasm,
Speaker 1: even when it is misdirected, is I believe, in the
Speaker 1: main sincere. But we are living in a skeptical and,
Speaker 1: if I may use the phrase, a thought tormented age.
Speaker 1: And sometimes I fear that this new generation educated or
Speaker 1: hyper educated, as it is, will lack those qualities of humanity,
Speaker 1: of hospitality, of kindly humour, which belonged to an older day.
Speaker 1: Listening tonight to the names of all those great singers
Speaker 1: of the past, it seemed to me I must confess
Speaker 1: that we were living in a less spacious age. Those
Speaker 1: days might, without exaggeration, be called spacious days. And if
Speaker 1: they are gone beyond recall, let us hope at least
Speaker 1: that in gathering such as this we shall speak of
Speaker 1: them with pride and affection. Still cherish in our hearts
Speaker 1: the memory of those dead and gone great ones whose
Speaker 1: fame the world will not willingly let die. Hear hear,
Speaker 1: said mister Brown loudly, but yet continued Gabriel, his voice
Speaker 1: falling into a softer inflection. There are always, in gathering
Speaker 1: such as this, sadder thoughts that will recur to our minds,
Speaker 1: Thoughts of the past, of youth, of changes, of absent
Speaker 1: faces that we miss here to night. Our path through
Speaker 1: life is strewn with many such sad memories, and were
Speaker 1: we to brood upon them always, we could not find
Speaker 1: the heart to go on bravely with our work. Among
Speaker 1: the living. We have, all of us living duties and
Speaker 1: living affections which claim and rightly claim, are strenuous endeavors. Therefore,
Speaker 1: I will not linger on the past. I will not
Speaker 1: let any gloomy moralizing intrude upon us here to night.
Speaker 1: Here we are gathered together for a brief moment from
Speaker 1: the bustle and rush of our every day routine. We
Speaker 1: are met here as friends, in the spirit of good fellowship,
Speaker 1: as colleagues, also to a certain extent, in the true
Speaker 1: spirit of camaraderie, and as the guests of what shall
Speaker 1: I call them, the Three Graces of the Dublin musical world.
Speaker 1: The table burst into applause and laughter. At this illusion,
Speaker 1: Aunt Julia vainly asked each of her neighbors in turn
Speaker 1: to tell her what Gabriel had said. He said, we
Speaker 1: are the three Graces, Aunt Julia, said Mary Jane. Aunt
Speaker 1: Julia did not understand, but she looked up smiling at Gabriel,
Speaker 1: who continued in the same vein, ladies and gentlemen, I
Speaker 1: will not attempt to play to night the part that
Speaker 1: Paris played on another occasion. I will not attempt to
Speaker 1: choose between them. The task would be an invidious one,
Speaker 1: and one beyond my poor powers, for when I view
Speaker 1: them in turn, whether it be our chief hostess herself,
Speaker 1: whose good heart, whose too heart has become a byword
Speaker 1: with all who know her, or her sister, who seems
Speaker 1: to be gifted with perennial youth, and whose singing must
Speaker 1: have been a surprise and a revelation to us all
Speaker 1: to night, or last, but not least, when I consider
Speaker 1: our youngest hosted, talented, cheerful, hard working, in the best
Speaker 1: of nieces, I confess, ladies and gentlemen, that I do
Speaker 1: not know which of them I should award the prize.
Speaker 1: Gabriel glanced down at his aunts, and, seeing the lard
Speaker 1: smile on Aunt Julia's face and the tears which had
Speaker 1: risen to Aunt Kate's eyes, hastened to his clothes. He
Speaker 1: raised his glass of port gallantly, while every member of
Speaker 1: the company fingered a glass expectantly, and said, loudly, let
Speaker 1: us toast them all three together. Let us drink to
Speaker 1: their health, wealth, long life, happiness and prosperity. And may
Speaker 1: they long continue to hold the proud and self warm
Speaker 1: position which they hold in their profession, and the position
Speaker 1: of honor and affection which they hold in our hearts.
Speaker 1: All the guests stood up, glass in hand, and turning
Speaker 1: towards the three seated ladies, sang in unison, with mister
Speaker 1: Brown as leaders, for they are jolly good farelows. For
Speaker 1: they are jolly good fellows. For they are jolly good fellows,
Speaker 1: which nobody can deny. Aunt Kate was making frank use
Speaker 1: of her handkerchief, and even Aunt Julius he move. Freddy
Speaker 1: Malins beat time with his putting fork, and the singers
Speaker 1: turned towards one another, as if in melodious conference, while
Speaker 1: they sang with emphasis unless he tells a lie, unless
Speaker 1: he tells a lie. Then, turning once more towards their hostesses,
Speaker 1: they sang, for they are jolly gay fellows, for they
Speaker 1: are jolly gay fellows. For they are jolly gay fellows,
Speaker 1: which nobody can deny. The acclamation which followed was taken
Speaker 1: up beyond the door of the supper room by many
Speaker 1: of the guests and renewed time after time. Freddie Malins,
Speaker 1: acting as officer with his fork on high. The piercing
Speaker 1: morning air came into the hall where they were standing,
Speaker 1: so Aunt Kate said, close the door. Somebody, missus Malins,
Speaker 1: will get her death of a cold Brown is out there,
Speaker 1: Aunt Kate said, Mary Jane. Brown is everywhere, said Aunt Kate,
Speaker 1: lowering her voice. Mary Jane laughed at her tone. Really,
Speaker 1: she said archly, he is very attentive. He has been
Speaker 1: laid on here like the gas, said Aunt Kate, in
Speaker 1: the same tone, all during the Christmas. She laughed herself,
Speaker 1: this time good humoredly, and then added quickly, but tell
Speaker 1: him to come in, Mary Jane, and close the door.
Speaker 1: I hoped to goodness he didn't hear me. At that moment.
Speaker 1: The hall door was opened, and mister Brown came in
Speaker 1: from the doorstep, laughing as if his heart would break.
Speaker 1: He was dressed in a long green overcoat with mock
Speaker 1: Astrakhan cuffs and collar, and worn his head an oval
Speaker 1: fur cap. He pointed down the snow covered key, from
Speaker 1: where the sound of the shrill prolonged whistling was borne
Speaker 1: in teddy. We'll have all the cabs in Dublin out,
Speaker 1: he said. Gabriel advanced from the little pantry behind the office,
Speaker 1: struggling into his overcoat and looking round the hall, said Gretta,
Speaker 1: not down yet, she's getting on her things, Gabriel said,
Speaker 1: Aunt Kate, who's playing up? There, asked Gabriel. Nobody they're
Speaker 1: all gone. Oh no, Aunt Kate, said Mary Jane, Bartel
Speaker 1: Darcy and Miss O'Callahan aren't gone yet. Some one is
Speaker 1: fooling at the piano anyhow, said Gabriel. Mary Jane glanced
Speaker 1: at Gabriel, and mister Browne said with a shiver, it
Speaker 1: makes me feel cold to look at you two gentlemen
Speaker 1: muffed up like that. I wouldn't like to face your
Speaker 1: journey home at this hour. I'd like nothing better this minute,
Speaker 1: said mister brown stoutly than a rattling fine walk in
Speaker 1: the country, or fast drive with a good spanking goer
Speaker 1: between the shafts. We used to have a very good
Speaker 1: horse and trap at home, said Aunt Julius, sadly, the
Speaker 1: never to be forgotten Johnny, said Mary Jane, laughing. Aunt
Speaker 1: Kate and Gabriel laughed too. Why what was so wonderful about, Johnny,
Speaker 1: asked mister brown The late lamented Patrick Morcombe, our grandfather,
Speaker 1: that is, explained Gabriel, commonly known in his later years
Speaker 1: as the Old Gentleman, was a glue boiler. Oh now, Gabriel,
Speaker 1: said Aunt Kate, laughing. He had a starch mill. Well
Speaker 1: glue or start, said Gabriel. The old gentleman had a
Speaker 1: horse by the name of Johnny, and Johnny used to
Speaker 1: work in the old gentleman's mill, walking round and round
Speaker 1: in order to drive the mill. That was all very well,
Speaker 1: but now comes the tragic part about Johnny. One fine day,
Speaker 1: the old gentleman thought he'd like to drive out with
Speaker 1: the quality to a military review in the park. Lord,
Speaker 1: have mercy on his soul, said Aunt Kate compassionately, Amen,
Speaker 1: said Gabriel. So the old gentleman, as I said, harness Johnny,
Speaker 1: and put on his very best tall hat and very
Speaker 1: best dark collar, and drove him out in grand style
Speaker 1: from his ancestral mansion somewhere near Back Lane. I think
Speaker 1: everyone laughed, even missus Mallin, said Gabriel's manor, and Aunt
Speaker 1: Kate said, oh, now, Gabriel, he didn't live in back Lane, really,
Speaker 1: only the mill was there, out from the mansion of
Speaker 1: his forefathers, continued Gabriel. He drove with Johnny, and everything
Speaker 1: went on beautifully until Johnny came in sight of King
Speaker 1: Billy's statue. And whether he fell in love with the
Speaker 1: horse King Billy sits on, or whether he thought he
Speaker 1: was back again in the mill. Anyhow, he began to
Speaker 1: walk round the statue. Gabriel paced in a circle around
Speaker 1: the hall in his goloshes, amid the laughter of the others.
Speaker 1: Round and round he went, said Gabriel. And the old gentleman,
Speaker 1: who was a very pompous old gentleman, was highly indignant.
Speaker 1: Go on, sir, what do you mean, sir, Johnny, Johnny,
Speaker 1: most extraordinary conduct. Can't understand the horse. The heel of
Speaker 1: laughter which followed Gabriel's imitation of the incident was interrupted
Speaker 1: by a resounding knock at the hall door. Mary Jane
Speaker 1: ran to open it and let in Freddy Malins. Freddy Malins,
Speaker 1: with his hat well back on his head and his
Speaker 1: shoulders humped with cold, was puffing and steaming after his exertions.
Speaker 1: I could only get one cab, he said, Oh, well,
Speaker 1: we'll find another along the key, said Gabriel. Yes, said
Speaker 1: Aunt Kate. Better not keep missus Mallins standing in the draft.
Speaker 1: End of the Dead, Part two