Speaker 1: Story tin of Dubliner's. This is a LibriVox recording. All
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Speaker 1: Carol Stripling. Dubliners by James Joyce, story tin Clay. The
Speaker 1: matron had given her leave to go out as soon
Speaker 1: as a women's tea was over, and Maria looked forward
Speaker 1: to her evening out. The kitchen was spick and span,
Speaker 1: the cook said, you could see yourself in the big
Speaker 1: copper boilers. The fire was nice and bright, and on
Speaker 1: one of the side tables were four very big barmbracks.
Speaker 1: These barmbracks seemed uncut, but if you went closer you
Speaker 1: would see that they had been cut into long, thick
Speaker 1: even slices and were ready to be handed round at tea.
Speaker 1: Maria had cut them herself. Maria was a very very
Speaker 1: small person, indeed, but she had a very long nose
Speaker 1: and a very long chin. She talked a little through
Speaker 1: her nose, always soothingly, Yes, my dear, and no, my dear.
Speaker 1: She was always sent for when the women quarreled over
Speaker 1: their tubs, and always succeeded in making peace one day
Speaker 1: the matron had said to her, Maria, you are a
Speaker 1: veritable peacemaker. And the sub matron and two of the
Speaker 1: board ladies had heard the compliment, and Ginger Mooney was
Speaker 1: always saying what she wouldn't do to the dummy who
Speaker 1: had charge of the irons if it wasn't for Maria.
Speaker 1: Everyone was so fond of Maria. The women would have
Speaker 1: their tea at six o'clock and she would be able
Speaker 1: to get away before seven. From Ballsbridge to the pillar
Speaker 1: twenty minutes, from the pillar to Drumcondra twenty minutes, and
Speaker 1: twenty minutes to the things. She would be there before eight.
Speaker 1: She took out her purse with the silver clasps and
Speaker 1: read again the words a present from Belfast. She was
Speaker 1: very fond of that purse because Joe had brought it
Speaker 1: to her five years before when he and Alfy had
Speaker 1: gone to Belfast on a whit Monday trip. In the
Speaker 1: purse were two half crowns and some coppers. She would
Speaker 1: have five shillings clear after paying tram fare. What a
Speaker 1: nice evening they would have, all the children singing. Only
Speaker 1: she hoped that Joe wouldn't come in drunk. He was
Speaker 1: so different when he took any drink. Often he had
Speaker 1: wanted her to go and live with them, but she
Speaker 1: would have felt herself in the way. Though Joe's wife
Speaker 1: was ever so nice with her, and she had become
Speaker 1: accustomed to the life of the laundry. Joe was a
Speaker 1: good fellow. She had nursed him and Alfie too, and
Speaker 1: Joe used often say, Mamma is mamma, but Maria is
Speaker 1: my proper mother. After the break up at home, the
Speaker 1: boys had got her that position in the Dublin by
Speaker 1: Lamplight laundry, and she liked it. She used to have
Speaker 1: such a bad opinion of Protestants, but now she thought
Speaker 1: they were very nice people, a little quiet and serious,
Speaker 1: but still very nice people to live with. Then she
Speaker 1: had her plants in the conservatory and she liked looking
Speaker 1: after them. She had lovely ferns and wax plants, and
Speaker 1: whenever any one came to visit her, she always gave
Speaker 1: the visitor one or two slips from her conservatory. There
Speaker 1: was one thing she didn't like, and that was the
Speaker 1: tracks on the walks. But the matron was such a
Speaker 1: nice person to deal with, so genteel. When the cook
Speaker 1: told her everything was ready, she went into the women's
Speaker 1: room and began to pull the big bell. In a
Speaker 1: few minutes, the women began to come in by twos
Speaker 1: and three, wiping their steaming hands and their petticoats, and
Speaker 1: pulling down the sleeves of their blouses over their red
Speaker 1: steaming arms. They settled down before their huge mugs, which
Speaker 1: the cook and the dummy filled up with hot tea
Speaker 1: already mixed with milk and sugar in huge tin cans.
Speaker 1: Maria superintended the distribution of the barnbrack and saw that
Speaker 1: every woman got her four slices. There was a great
Speaker 1: deal of laughing and joking during the meal. Lizzie Fleming
Speaker 1: said Maria was sure to get the ring, and though
Speaker 1: Fleming had said that for so many hollow eves, Maria
Speaker 1: had to laugh and say she didn't want any ring
Speaker 1: or man either. And when she laughed, her gray green
Speaker 1: eyes sparkled with disappointed shyness, and the tip of her
Speaker 1: nose nearly met the tip of her chin. Then Ginger
Speaker 1: Mooney lifted her mug of tea and proposed Maria's health,
Speaker 1: while all the other women clattered with their mugs on
Speaker 1: the table and said she was sorry, she hadn't a
Speaker 1: sup a porta to drink it in. And Maria laughed
Speaker 1: again till the tip of her nose nearly met the
Speaker 1: tip of her chin, and till her minute body nearly
Speaker 1: shook itself asunder, because she knew that mooney meant well,
Speaker 1: though of course she had the notions of a common woman.
Speaker 1: But wasn't Maria glad When the women had finished their tea,
Speaker 1: and the cook and the dummy had begun to clear
Speaker 1: away the tea things. She went into her little bedroom, and,
Speaker 1: remembering that the next morning was a mass morning, changed
Speaker 1: the hand of the alarm from seven to six. Then
Speaker 1: she took off her working skirt in her house boots,
Speaker 1: and laid her best skirt out on the bed and
Speaker 1: her tiny dress boots beside the foot of the bed.
Speaker 1: She changed her blouse too, and as she stood before
Speaker 1: the mirror, she thought of how she used to dress
Speaker 1: for Mass on Sunday morning when she was a young girl,
Speaker 1: and she looked with quaint affection at the diminutive body
Speaker 1: which she had so often adorned, in spite of its years.
Speaker 1: She found it a nice, tidy little body. When she
Speaker 1: got outside, the streets were shining with rain, and she
Speaker 1: was glad of her old brown waterproof The tram was
Speaker 1: full and she had to sit on the little stool
Speaker 1: at the end of the car, facing all the people,
Speaker 1: with her toes barely touching the floor. She arranged in
Speaker 1: her mind all she was going to do, and thought
Speaker 1: how much better it was to be independent and to
Speaker 1: have your own money in your pocket. She hoped they
Speaker 1: would have a nice evening. She was sure they would,
Speaker 1: but she could not help thinking what a pity it was.
Speaker 1: Alphie and Joe were not speaking. They were always falling
Speaker 1: out now, but when they were boys together they used
Speaker 1: to be the best of friends. But such was life.
Speaker 1: She got out of her tram at the pillar and
Speaker 1: ferreted her way quickly among the crowds. She went it It
Speaker 1: down cake shop, but the shop was so full of
Speaker 1: people that it was a long time before she could
Speaker 1: get herself attended to. She bought a dozen of mixed
Speaker 1: penny cakes and at last came out of the shop
Speaker 1: laden with a big bag. Then she thought what else
Speaker 1: would she buy? She wanted to buy something really nice.
Speaker 1: They would be sure to have plenty of apples and nuts.
Speaker 1: It was hard to know what to buy. And all
Speaker 1: she could think of was cake. She decided to buy
Speaker 1: some plum cake, but down this plum cake had not
Speaker 1: enough almond icing on top of it, so she went
Speaker 1: over to a shop in Henry Street. Here she was
Speaker 1: a long time in suiting herself, and the stylish young
Speaker 1: lady behind the counter, who was evidently a little annoyed
Speaker 1: by her, asked her was it wedding cake she wanted
Speaker 1: to buy. That made Maria blush and smile at the
Speaker 1: young lady, but the young lady took it all very
Speaker 1: seriously and finally cut a thick slice of plum cake,
Speaker 1: parceled it up and said two and four please. She
Speaker 1: thought she would have to stand in the Drumcondra tram
Speaker 1: because none of the young men seemed to notice her,
Speaker 1: but an elderly gentleman made room for her. He was
Speaker 1: a stout gentleman, and he wore a brown hard hat.
Speaker 1: He had a square, red face and a grayish mustache.
Speaker 1: Maria thought he was a colonel looking gentleman, and she
Speaker 1: reflected how much more polite he was than the young
Speaker 1: men who simply stared straight before them. The gentleman began
Speaker 1: to chat with her about hollow Eve and the rainy weather.
Speaker 1: He supposed the bag was full of good things for
Speaker 1: the little ones, and said it was only right that
Speaker 1: the youngsters should enjoy themselves while they were young. Maria
Speaker 1: agreed with him, and favored him with demure nods and hems.
Speaker 1: He was very nice with her, and when she was
Speaker 1: getting out at the canalge, she thanked him and bowed,
Speaker 1: and he bowed to her and raised his hat and
Speaker 1: smiled agreeably. And while she was going up along the terrace,
Speaker 1: bending her tiny head under the rain, she thought how
Speaker 1: easy it was to know a gentleman, even when he
Speaker 1: has a drop taken. Everybody said, oh, here's Maria. When
Speaker 1: she came to Joe's house. Joe was there, having come
Speaker 1: home from business, and all the children had their Sunday
Speaker 1: dresses on. There were two big girls in from next door,
Speaker 1: and games were going on. Maria gave the bag of
Speaker 1: cakes to the eldest boy, Alphy, to divide, and missus
Speaker 1: Donnelly said it was too good of her to bring
Speaker 1: such a big bag of cakes, and made all the
Speaker 1: children say thanks Maria. But Maria said she had brought
Speaker 1: something special for Papa and Mamma, something they would be
Speaker 1: sure to like, and she began to look for her
Speaker 1: plum cake. She tried in Downs's bad and then in
Speaker 1: the pockets of her waterproof and then on the hall stand,
Speaker 1: but nowhere could she find it. Then she asked all
Speaker 1: the children, had any of them eaten it by mistake,
Speaker 1: of course, But the children all said no, and looked
Speaker 1: as if they did not like to eat cakes if
Speaker 1: they were to be accused of stealing. Everybody had a
Speaker 1: solution for the mystery, and Missus Donnelly said it was
Speaker 1: plain that Maria had left it behind her in the tram. Maria,
Speaker 1: remembering how confused the gentleman with a grayish mustache had
Speaker 1: made her, colored with shame and vexation and disappointment at
Speaker 1: the thought of the failure of her little surprise, and
Speaker 1: of the two and fourpence she had thrown away for nothing.
Speaker 1: She nearly cried outright, but Joe said it didn't matter
Speaker 1: and made her sit down by the fire. He was
Speaker 1: very nice with her. He told her all that went
Speaker 1: on in his office, repeating for her a smart answer
Speaker 1: which he had made to the manager. Maria did not
Speaker 1: understand why Joe laughed so much over the answer he
Speaker 1: had made but she said that the manager must have
Speaker 1: been a very overbearing person to deal with. Joe said
Speaker 1: he wasn't so bad when you knew how to take him,
Speaker 1: that he was a decent sort, so long as you
Speaker 1: didn't rub him the wrong way. Missus Donnelly played the
Speaker 1: piano for the children and they danced and sang. Then
Speaker 1: the two next door girls handed round the nuts. Nobody
Speaker 1: could find the nutcrackers, and Joe was nearly getting cross
Speaker 1: over it and asked how did they expect Maria to
Speaker 1: crack nuts without a nutcracker? But Maria said she didn't
Speaker 1: like nuts and that they weren't to bother about her.
Speaker 1: Then Joe asked would she take a bottle of stout,
Speaker 1: and Missus Donnelly said there was port wine too in
Speaker 1: the house if she would prefer that. Maria said she
Speaker 1: would rather they didn't ask her to take anything, but
Speaker 1: Joe insisted, so Maria let him have his way, and
Speaker 1: they sat by the fire talking over old times, and
Speaker 1: Maria thought she would put in a good word for Alfy,
Speaker 1: but Joe cried that God might strike him stone dead
Speaker 1: if ever he spoke a word to his brother again,
Speaker 1: and Maria said she was sorry she had mentioned the matter,
Speaker 1: Missus Donnelly told her husband it was a great shame
Speaker 1: for him to speak that way of his own flesh
Speaker 1: and blood. But Joe said that Alfy was no brother
Speaker 1: of his, and there were nearly being a row on
Speaker 1: the head of it. But Joe said he would not
Speaker 1: lose his temper on account of the night it was,
Speaker 1: and asked his wife to open some more stout. The
Speaker 1: two next door girls had arranged some hollow eve games,
Speaker 1: and soon everything was merry again. Maria was delighted to
Speaker 1: see the children so merry, and Joe and his wife
Speaker 1: in such good spirits. The next door girls put some
Speaker 1: saucers on the table and then led the children up
Speaker 1: to the table blindfold One got the prayer book and
Speaker 1: the other three got the water. And when one of
Speaker 1: the next door girls got the ring, Missus Donnelly shook
Speaker 1: her finger at the blushing girl as much as to say, oh,
Speaker 1: I know all about it. They insisted then on blindfolding
Speaker 1: Maria and leading her up to the table to see
Speaker 1: what she would get. And while they were putting on
Speaker 1: the bandage, Maria laughed and laughed again till the tip
Speaker 1: of her nose nearly met the tip of her chin.
Speaker 1: They led her up to the table amid laughing and joking,
Speaker 1: and she put her hand out in the air as
Speaker 1: she was told to do. She moved her hand about
Speaker 1: here and there in the air and descended on one
Speaker 1: of the saucers. She felt a soft, wet substance with
Speaker 1: her fingers, and was surprised that nobody spoke or took
Speaker 1: off her bandage. There was a pause for a few seconds,
Speaker 1: and then a great deal of scuffling and whispering. Somebody
Speaker 1: said something about the garden, and at last Missus Donnelly
Speaker 1: said something very cross to one of the next door
Speaker 1: girls and told her to throw it out once that
Speaker 1: was no play. Maria understood that it was wrong that time,
Speaker 1: and so she had to do it over again, and
Speaker 1: this time she got the prayer book. After that, Missus
Speaker 1: donnelly played Miss mc cloud's reel for the children, and
Speaker 1: Joe made Maria take a glass of wine. Soon they
Speaker 1: were all quite merry again, and Missus Donnelly said Maria
Speaker 1: would enter a convent before the year was out because
Speaker 1: she had got the prayer book. Maria had never seen
Speaker 1: Joe so nice to her as he was that night,
Speaker 1: so full of pleasant talk and reminiscences. She said they
Speaker 1: were all very good to her. At last, the children
Speaker 1: grew tired and sleepy, and Joe asked Maria would she
Speaker 1: not sing some little song before she went one of
Speaker 1: the old songs. Missus Donnelly said, do please Maria, and
Speaker 1: so Maria had to get up and stand beside her
Speaker 1: the piano. Missus Donnelly bade the children be quiet and
Speaker 1: listen to Maria's song. Then she played the prelude and
Speaker 1: said now Maria, and Maria, blushing very much, began to
Speaker 1: sing in a tiny, quavering voice. She sang, I dreamt
Speaker 1: that I dwelt, And when she came to the second verse,
Speaker 1: she sang again.
Speaker 2: I dreamed.
Speaker 1: With rustles and soot my side.
Speaker 2: And all sous, and I a ragous cold booses, which pleased.
Speaker 1: Thatchast musa that.
Speaker 2: You that child.
Speaker 1: You love pleasely, But no one tried to show her
Speaker 1: her mistake. And when she had ended her song, Joe
Speaker 1: was very much moved. He said that there was no
Speaker 1: time like the long ago, and no music for him
Speaker 1: like poor old balf whatever other people might say, and
Speaker 1: his eyes filled up so much with tears that he
Speaker 1: could not find what he was looking for, and in
Speaker 1: the end he had to ask his wife to tell
Speaker 1: him where the corkscrew was and of clay recording by
Speaker 1: Carrol Stripling