WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:05.679 Story fourteen of Dubliner's by James Joyce. This is a 2 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:09.320 LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. 3 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:14.160 For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. 4 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:24.920 Dubliners by James Joyce, Story fourteen Grace. Two gentlemen who 5 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:27.120 were in the lavatory at the time tried to lift 6 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:30.640 him up, but he was quite helpless. He lay curled 7 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:32.479 up at the foot of the stairs down which he 8 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:36.799 had fallen. They succeeded in turning him over. His hat 9 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:39.399 had rolled a few yards away, and his clothes were 10 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.719 smeared with the filth and ooze of the floor on 11 00:00:41.759 --> 00:00:45.640 which he had lain face downwards. His eyes were closed, 12 00:00:45.640 --> 00:00:49.039 and he breathed with a grunting noise. A thin stream 13 00:00:49.079 --> 00:00:53.240 of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. These 14 00:00:53.240 --> 00:00:55.799 two gentlemen and one of the curates carried him up 15 00:00:55.799 --> 00:00:57.640 the stairs and laid him down again on the floor 16 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:00.640 of the bar. In two minutes he was surrounded by 17 00:01:00.640 --> 00:01:03.719 a ring of men. The manager of the bar asked 18 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:06.920 everyone who he was and who was with him. No 19 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.159 one knew who he was, but one of the curates 20 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:11.560 said he had served the gentleman with a small rum. 21 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:15.920 Was he by himself? Asked the manager, No, sir, there 22 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:19.920 was two gentlemen with him, and where are they? No 23 00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:23.560 one knew? A voice said, give him air, he's fainted. 24 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:28.760 The ring of onlookers distended and closed again elastically. A 25 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:31.519 dark metal of blood had formed itself near the man's 26 00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:35.560 head on the tassellated floor. The manager, alarmed by the 27 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:38.680 gray pallor of the man's face, sent for a policeman. 28 00:01:40.040 --> 00:01:43.959 His collar was unfastened and his necktie undone. He opened 29 00:01:43.959 --> 00:01:47.719 eyes for an instant, sighed, and closed them again. One 30 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:50.519 of the gentlemen who had carried him upstairs held a 31 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.280 dinged silk hat in his hand. The manager asked, repeatedly, 32 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:56.560 did no one know who the injured man was? Or 33 00:01:56.599 --> 00:01:59.760 where had his friends gone? The door of the bar opened, 34 00:01:59.879 --> 00:02:03.319 and an immense constable entered. A crowd which had followed 35 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:06.400 him down the laneway collected outside the door, struggling to 36 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:10.520 look in through the glass panels. The manager at once 37 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:13.759 began to narrate what he knew. The constable, a young 38 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.479 man with thick, immobile features, listened. He moved his head 39 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:20.199 slowly to right and left, and from the manager to 40 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:22.560 the person on the floor, as if he feared to 41 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:26.080 be the victim of some delusion. Then he drew off 42 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:29.719 his glove, produced a small book from his waist, licked 43 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:32.639 the lead of his pencil, and made ready to indict. 44 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:37.199 He asked, in a suspicious provincial accent, who is the man? 45 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:40.159 What's his name and address? A young man in a 46 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:42.960 cycling suit cleared his way through the ring of bystanders. 47 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.360 He knelt down promptly beside the injured man and called 48 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:50.159 for water. The constable knelt down also to help. The 49 00:02:50.199 --> 00:02:52.560 young man washed the blood from the injured man's mouth, 50 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:56.280 and then called for some brandy. The constable repeated the 51 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:59.599 order in an authoritative voice until a curate came running 52 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:03.120 with the gloves. The brandy was forced down the man's throat. 53 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:05.840 In a few seconds, he opened his eyes and looked 54 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:09.879 about him. He looked at the circle of faces, and then, understanding, 55 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:14.039 strove to rise to his feet. You're all right now, 56 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:17.360 asked the young man in the cycling suit. Shah, it's nothing, 57 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:20.439 said the injured man, trying to stand up. He was 58 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:23.960 helped to his feet. The manager said something about a hospital, 59 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.479 and some of the bystanders gave advice. The battered silk 60 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:30.439 hat was placed on the man's head. The constable asked, 61 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:34.560 where do you live? The man, without answering, began to 62 00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:37.319 twirl the ends of his mustache. He made light of 63 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:40.759 his accident. It was nothing, he said, only a little accident. 64 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:45.479 He spoke very thickly. Where do you live, repeated the constable. 65 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:48.759 The man said they were to get a cab for him. 66 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:52.719 While the point was being debated, a tall, agile gentleman 67 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:56.680 of fair complexion wearing a long yellow ulster, came from 68 00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:59.599 the far end of the bar. Seeing the spectacle, he 69 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:04.120 called out, hallo, Tom, old man, what's the trouble. Shah's nothing, 70 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:08.360 said the man. The newcomer surveyed the deplorable figure before him, 71 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:12.400 and then turned to the constable, saying, it's all right, Constable, 72 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:16.439 I'll see him home. The constable touched his helmet and answered, 73 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:20.360 all right, mister Power, Come now, Tom, said mister Power, 74 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.560 taking his friend by the arm, no bones broken, What 75 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:26.879 can you walk? The young man in the cycling suit 76 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.399 took the man by the other arm, and the crowd divided. 77 00:04:31.480 --> 00:04:34.079 How did you get yourself into this mess? Asked mister Power. 78 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:37.399 The gentleman fell down the stairs, said the young man. 79 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:42.000 I ay i ah, I hear, sir, said the injured man, 80 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:47.040 not at all, we have lull not now, not now. 81 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:50.639 The three men left the bar and the crowd sifted 82 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:53.839 through the doors to the laneway. The manager brought the 83 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:56.399 constable to the stairs to inspect the scene of the accident. 84 00:04:57.199 --> 00:04:59.439 They agreed that the gentleman must have missed his footing. 85 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:02.959 The customers returned to the counter, and a curate set 86 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:06.680 about removing the traces of blood from the floor. When 87 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:09.759 they came out into Grafton Street, mister Power whistled for 88 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:12.720 an outsider. The injured man said again as well as 89 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:16.480 he could. I heyy well, oh i'd see here. I 90 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:22.000 hull ome again. I ay e is Kernan. The shock 91 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:26.519 and the incipient pain had partly sobered him. Don't mention it, 92 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:30.560 said the young man. They shook hands. Mister Kernan was 93 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:33.399 hoisted on to the car, and while mister Power was 94 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.800 giving directions to the car man, he expressed his gratitude 95 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.399 to the young man and regretted that they could not 96 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:43.199 have a little drink together another time, said the young man. 97 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:48.120 The car drove off towards Westmoreland Street. As it passed 98 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:52.040 Belfast Office, the clock showed half past nine. A keen 99 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:54.560 east wind hit them, blowing from the mouth of the river. 100 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.920 Mister Kernan was huddled together with cold. His friend asked 101 00:05:58.959 --> 00:06:02.079 him to tell how the act incident had happened. I can't, 102 00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:07.240 and he answered, I hung it har show. The other 103 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:09.319 leaned over the well of the car and peered into 104 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:12.920 mister Kernan's mouth, but could not see. He struck a match, and, 105 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:15.879 sheltering it in the shell of his hands, peered again 106 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:19.920 into the mouth, which mister Kernan opened obediently. The swaying 107 00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:22.519 movement of the car brought the match to and from 108 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:25.879 the open mouth. The lower teeth and gums were covered 109 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:28.800 with clotted blood, and a minute piece of the tongue 110 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:32.000 seemed to have been bitten off. The match was blown out. 111 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.839 That's ugly, said mister power Shah. It's nothing, said mister Kernan, 112 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:39.160 closing his mouth and pulling the collar of his filthy 113 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:43.759 coat across his neck. Mister Kernan was a commercial traveler 114 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.040 of the old school, which believed in the dignity of 115 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:48.959 its calling. He had never been seen in the city 116 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:51.560 without a silk hat of some decency and a pair 117 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:54.920 of gaiters. By grace of these two articles of clothing, 118 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:58.879 he said, a man could always pass Muster. He carried 119 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.800 on the tradition of his Nonapoleon, the Great Black White, 120 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.279 whose memory he evoked at times by legend and mimicry. 121 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:09.279 Modern business methods had spared him only so far as 122 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:11.959 to allow him a little office in Crow Street, on 123 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:13.879 the window blind of which was written the name of 124 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:18.120 his firm with the address London E. C. On the 125 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.360 mantel piece of his little office, a little leaden battalion 126 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:24.160 of canisters was drawn up, and on the table before 127 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:27.160 the window stood four or five china bowls, which were 128 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:30.839 usually half full of a black liquid. From these bowls, 129 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:34.920 mister Kernan tasted tea. He took a mouthful, drew it up, 130 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:37.560 saturated his palate with it, and then spat it forth 131 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:42.319 into the grate. Then he paused to judge. Mister Power, 132 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.360 a much younger man, was employed in the Royal Irish 133 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:49.639 Constabulary office in Dublin Castle. The arc of his social 134 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.040 rise intersected the ark of his friend's decline. But mister 135 00:07:53.079 --> 00:07:55.800 Kernan's decline was mitigated by the fact that certain of 136 00:07:55.800 --> 00:07:58.680 those friends who had known him at his highest point 137 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:03.120 of success still esteemed him as a character. Mister Power 138 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:06.600 was one of these friends. His inexplicable debts were a 139 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:09.720 byword in his circle. He was a debonair young man. 140 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:13.600 The car halted before a small house on the glass 141 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:16.079 Nevin Road, and mister Kernan was helped into the house. 142 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:19.079 His wife put him to bed, while mister Power sat 143 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:21.839 downstairs in the kitchen, asking the children where they went 144 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:24.759 to school and what book they were in. The children, 145 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:27.879 two girls and a boy, conscious of their father's helplessness 146 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.399 and of their mother's absence, began some horseplay with him. 147 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:34.679 He was surprised at their manners and at their accents, 148 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:38.639 and his brow grew thoughtful. After a while, Missus Cernan 149 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:42.639 entered the kitchen, exclaiming, such a sight. Oh, he'll do 150 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:44.840 for himself one day, and that's the holy alls of it. 151 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:49.080 He's been drinking since Friday. Mister Power was careful to 152 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:51.600 explain to her that he was not responsible, that he 153 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:54.919 had come on the scene by the merest accident. Missus Ernan, 154 00:08:55.039 --> 00:08:58.720 remembering mister Power's good offices during domestic quarrels, as well 155 00:08:58.759 --> 00:09:02.799 as many small but opportune loans. Said, Oh, you needn't 156 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:04.840 tell me that, mister Power. I know you're a friend 157 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:06.919 of his, not like some of the others he does 158 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:09.480 be with. They're all right, so long as he has 159 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.159 money in his pocket to keep him out from his 160 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:14.360 wife and family. Nice friends. Who is he with to night, 161 00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:17.399 I'd like to know. Mister Power shook his head but 162 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:21.240 said nothing. I'm so sorry. She continued that I've nothing 163 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:23.279 in the house to offer you, but if you wait 164 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:25.440 a minute, I'll send round to Fogerty's at the corner. 165 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.279 Mister Power stood up. We were waiting for him to 166 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:31.080 come with the money. He never seems to think he 167 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.279 has a home at all. Oh, now, missus Kernan said, 168 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:37.000 mister Power, we'll make him turn over a new leaf. 169 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:40.240 I'll talk to Martin. He's the man. We'll come here 170 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.039 one of these knights and talk it over. She saw 171 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:45.639 him to the door. The car man was stamping up 172 00:09:45.679 --> 00:09:48.519 and down the footpath and swinging his arms to warm himself. 173 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:51.480 It's very kind of you to bring him home, she said. 174 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:55.120 Not at all, said mister Power. He got up on 175 00:09:55.159 --> 00:09:57.720 the car as it drove off. He raised his hat 176 00:09:57.759 --> 00:09:59.960 to her gaily, we'll make a new man of him, 177 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:03.960 said good night, Missus Kernan. Missus Kernan's puzzled eyes watched 178 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.960 the car till it was out of sight. Then she 179 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:09.360 withdrew them, went into the house and emptied her husband's pockets. 180 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:13.559 She was an active, practical woman of middle age. Not 181 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.919 long before she had celebrated her silver wedding and renewed 182 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:19.679 her intimacy with her husband by waltzing with him to 183 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:23.759 mister Power's accompaniment. In her days of courtship, mister Kernan 184 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:27.080 had seemed to her a not ungallant figure, and she 185 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:30.039 still hurried to the chapel door whenever a wedding was reported, 186 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:34.720 and seeing the bridal pair, recalled with vivid pleasure how 187 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:36.720 she had passed out of the Star of the Sea 188 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:40.000 Church in Sandymount, leaning on the arm of a jovial, 189 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:43.200 well fed man who was dressed smartly in a frock 190 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:47.200 coat and lavender trousers, and carried a silk hat gracefully 191 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.960 balanced upon his other arm. After three weeks she had 192 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:55.159 found a wife's life irksome, and later on, when she 193 00:10:55.240 --> 00:10:57.960 was beginning to find it unbearable. She had become a mother. 194 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:02.360 The part of mother prisons to her no insuperable difficulties, 195 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:05.240 and for twenty five years she had kept house shrewdly 196 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:09.840 for her husband. Her two eldest sons were launched. One 197 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:12.559 was in a draper's shop in Glasgow and the other 198 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:15.559 was clerk to a tea merchant in Belfast. They were 199 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:19.840 good sons, wrote regularly and sometimes sent home money. The 200 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:22.840 other children were still at school. Mister Kernan sent a 201 00:11:22.919 --> 00:11:25.240 letter to his office next day and remained in bed. 202 00:11:25.879 --> 00:11:28.600 She made beef tea for him and scolded him roundly. 203 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:32.480 She accepted his frequent intemperance as part of the climate. 204 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:35.840 Healed him dutifully whenever he was sick, and always tried 205 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:39.240 to make him eat a breakfast. There were worse husbands. 206 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.639 He had never been violent since the boys had grown up, 207 00:11:41.960 --> 00:11:43.600 and she knew that he would walk to the end 208 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.159 of Thomas Street and back again to book even a 209 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:50.240 small order. Two nights after his friends came to see him, 210 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:53.440 she brought them up to his bedroom, the air of 211 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:56.639 which was impregnated with a personal odor, and gave them 212 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:00.960 chairs at the fire. Mister Kernan's tongue, the occasional stinging 213 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.600 pain of which had made him somewhat irritable during the day, 214 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:08.399 became more polite. He sat propped up in bed by pillows, 215 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.039 and the little color in his puffy cheeks made them 216 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:15.320 resemble warm cinders. He apologized to his guests for the 217 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:18.279 disorder of the room, but at the same time looked 218 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:22.360 at them a little proudly with a veteran's pride. He 219 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.679 was quite unconscious that he was the victim of a 220 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:28.320 plot which his friends mister Cunningham, mister mc coy and 221 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.039 mister Power had disclosed to missus Kernan in the parlor. 222 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:35.000 The idea had been mister Powers, but its development was 223 00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:39.559 entrusted to mister Cunningham. Mister Kernan came of Protestant stock, 224 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:42.240 and though he had been converted to the Catholic faith 225 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:44.720 at the time of his marriage, he had not been 226 00:12:44.759 --> 00:12:47.279 in the pale of the church for twenty years. He 227 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:52.919 was fond moreover of giving side thrusts at Catholicism. Mister 228 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:55.919 Cunningham was the very man for such a case. He 229 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:59.120 was an elder colleague of mister Power. His own domestic 230 00:12:59.159 --> 00:13:02.320 life was very high. People had great sympathy with him, 231 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:04.840 for it was known that he had married an unpresentable 232 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:08.960 woman who was an incurable drunkard. He had set up 233 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.440 house for her six times, and each time she had 234 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:15.399 pawned the furniture on him. Every One had respect for 235 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:19.919 poor Martin Cunningham. He was a thoroughly sensible man, influential 236 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:25.639 and intelligent. His blade of human knowledge, natural astuteness, particularized 237 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:29.039 by long association with cases in the police courts, had 238 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:32.320 been tempered by brief immersions in the waters of general philosophy. 239 00:13:33.039 --> 00:13:36.159 He was well informed. His friends bowed to his opinions, 240 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:40.559 and considered that his face was like Shakespeare's. When the 241 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.559 plot had been disclosed to her, Missus Kernan had said, 242 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:48.080 I leave it all in your hands, mister Cunningham. After 243 00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:50.080 a quarter of a century of married life, she had 244 00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:53.679 very few illusions left. Religion for her was a habit, 245 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.720 and she suspected that a man of her husband's age 246 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.559 would not change greatly before death. She was tempted to 247 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:04.320 see a curious appropriateness in his accident, and but that 248 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:06.879 she did not wish to seem bloody minded, would have 249 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:09.600 told the gentleman that mister cernan's tongue would not suffer 250 00:14:09.639 --> 00:14:14.159 by being shortened. However, mister Cunningham was a capable man, 251 00:14:14.559 --> 00:14:18.240 and religion was religion. The scheme might do good, and 252 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:21.720 at least it could do no harm. Her beliefs were 253 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:25.440 not extravagant. She believed steadily in the Sacred Heart as 254 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:29.159 the most generally useful of all Catholic devotions, and approved 255 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:32.840 of the sacraments. Her faith was bounded by her kitchen, 256 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:35.720 but if she was put to it, she could believe 257 00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:40.039 also in the Banshee and in the Holy Ghost. The 258 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:43.759 gentleman began to talk of the accident. Mister Cunningham said 259 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:46.840 that he had once known a similar case. A man 260 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:48.720 of seventy had bitten off a piece of his tongue 261 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:52.279 during an epileptic fit, and the tongue had filled in again, 262 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:55.600 so that no one could see a trace of the bite. Well, 263 00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:59.559 I'm not seventy, said the invalid God forbid, said mister Cunningham. 264 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:04.320 It doesn't pain you, now, asked mister mc coy. Mister 265 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:06.399 mc coy had been at one time a tenor of 266 00:15:06.440 --> 00:15:10.360 some reputation. His wife, who had been a soprano, still 267 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:13.080 taught young children to play the piano at low terms. 268 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:16.480 His line of life had not been the shortest distance 269 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:19.279 between two points, and for short periods he had been 270 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:22.600 driven to live by his wits. He had been a 271 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:26.200 clerk in the Midland Railway, a canvasser for advertisements for 272 00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:29.600 the Irish Times and for the Freeman's Journal, a town 273 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:33.759 traveler for a coal firm on commission, a private inquiry agent, 274 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:36.679 a clerk in the office of the sub Sheriff, and 275 00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:40.039 he had recently become secretary to the city Coroner. His 276 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:43.440 new office made him professionally interested in mister Kernan's case. 277 00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:48.320 Pain not much, answered mister Keernan. But it's so sickening. 278 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.840 I feel as if I wanted to wretch off. That's 279 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:55.559 the booze, said mister Cunningham. Firmly, No, said mister Cernan. 280 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.679 I think I caught cold on the car. There's something 281 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:02.799 keeps coming into my throat phlegm or mucus, said mister 282 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:06.080 mc coy. It keeps coming like from down in my 283 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:09.799 throat sickening. Yes, yes, said mister mc coy, that's the thorax. 284 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:13.120 He looked at mister Cunningham and mister Power at the 285 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:16.600 same time with an air of challenge. Mister Cunningham nodded 286 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:20.360 his head rapidly, and mister Power said, Ah, well, all's well, 287 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:24.080 that ends well. I'm very much obliged to you, old man, 288 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:27.960 said the invalid. Mister Power waved his hand. Those other 289 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:30.879 two fellows I was with? Who were you with, asked 290 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.159 mister Cunningham. A chap. I don't know his name, damn 291 00:16:34.200 --> 00:16:36.919 it now, what's his name? Little chap with sandy hair? 292 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:43.279 And who else? Harford? Hum said mister Cunningham. When mister 293 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:47.120 Cunningham made that remark, people were silent. It was known 294 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:50.919 that the speaker had secret sources of information. In this case, 295 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:55.879 the monosyllable had a moral intention. Mister Harford sometimes formed 296 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.919 one of a little detachment which left the city shortly 297 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:02.200 afternoon on Sunday, with the purpose of arriving as soon 298 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:05.400 as possible at some public house on the outskirts of 299 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:09.799 the city, where its members duly qualified themselves as bonafide travelers. 300 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.160 But his fellow travelers had never consented to overlook his origin. 301 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:18.079 He had begun life as an obscure financier by lending 302 00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:22.480 small sums of money to workmen at eusurious interest. Later 303 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:24.640 on he had become the partner of a very fat, 304 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:29.200 short gentleman, mister Goldberg in the Liffey Lone Bank. Though 305 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:32.079 he had never embraced more than the Jewish ethical code, 306 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:35.559 his fellow Catholics, whenever they had smarted in person or 307 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:39.200 by proxy under his exactions, spoke of him bitterly as 308 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:43.559 an Irish Jew and an illiterate, and saw divine disapproval 309 00:17:43.640 --> 00:17:48.079 of usury made manifest through the person of his idiot son. 310 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:52.079 At other times they remembered his good points. I wonder 311 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:55.200 where did he go to, said mister Kernan. He wished 312 00:17:55.319 --> 00:17:58.240 the details of the incident to remain vague. He wished 313 00:17:58.279 --> 00:17:59.920 his friends to think that there had been some mistate, 314 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.920 that mister Harford and he had missed each other. His friends, 315 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.599 who knew quite well mister Harford's manners in drinking, were silent. 316 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:12.720 Mister Power said again, all's well, that ends well. Mister 317 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:15.839 Kernan changed the subject at once. That was a decent 318 00:18:15.880 --> 00:18:20.039 young chap, that medical fellow, he said. Only for him, Oh, 319 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:22.559 only for him, said mister Power. It might have been 320 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:26.559 a case of seven days without the option of a fine. Yes, yes, 321 00:18:26.599 --> 00:18:29.720 said mister Kennan, trying to remember. I remember now there 322 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:33.119 was a policeman, decent young fellow, he seemed. How did 323 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:37.119 it happen at all? It happened that you were peluthered, Tom, 324 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:42.119 said mister Cunningham. Gravely true, Bill, said mister Kennan, equally gravely. 325 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:45.680 I suppose you squared the constable, Jack, said mister mc coy. 326 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:49.599 Mister Power did not relish the use of his Christian name. 327 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:53.079 He was not straight laced, but he could not forget 328 00:18:53.079 --> 00:18:55.279 that mister mc coy had recently made a crusade in 329 00:18:55.319 --> 00:18:59.000 search of Valise's and Portmanteaus to enable missus mc coy 330 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:03.119 to fulfill in sagenary engagements in the country. More than 331 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:06.319 he resented the fact that he had been victimized, he 332 00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:09.640 resented such low playing of the game. He answered the 333 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:13.880 question therefore, as if mister Ernan had asked it. The 334 00:19:13.960 --> 00:19:17.799 narrative made mister Cernan indignant. He was keenly conscious of 335 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:21.240 his citizenship, wished to live with his city on terms 336 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:24.960 mutually honorable, and resented any affront put upon him by 337 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:29.079 those whom he called country bumpkins. Is this what we 338 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:31.720 pay rates for? He asked to feed and clothe these 339 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:36.799 ignorant bostumes and learn nothing else. Mister Cunningham laughed. He 340 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:40.279 was a castle official only during office hours. How could 341 00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:43.359 they be anything else, Tom, he said. He assumed a 342 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:46.680 thick provincial accent and said, in a tone of command, 343 00:19:47.319 --> 00:19:52.160 sixty five, catch your cabbage. Everyone laughed. Mister mc coy, 344 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:55.559 who wanted to enter the conversation by any door, pretended 345 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:58.559 that he had never heard the story. Mister Cunningham said, 346 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:02.240 it is supposed, they say, you know, to take place 347 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:04.720 in the depot where they get these thundering big country 348 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.720 fellows Omron's you know, to drill. The sergeant makes them 349 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:10.799 stand in a row against the wall and hold up 350 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:15.839 their plates. He illustrated the story by grotesque gestures. At dinner. 351 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.480 You know, then he has a bloody big bowl of 352 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:21.240 cabbage before him on the table, and a bloody big 353 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:23.839 spoon like a shovel. He takes up a wad of 354 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.359 cabbage on the spoon and pegs it across the room, 355 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:28.319 and the poor devils have to try and catch it 356 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:32.160 on their plates. Sixty five catch your cabbage. Every one 357 00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:35.319 laughed again, but mister Curnant was somewhat indignant. Still. He 358 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:39.400 talked of writing letters to the papers. These yahoos coming 359 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:41.839 up here, he said, think they can boss the people. 360 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:44.799 I needn't tell you Martin what kind of men they are. 361 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.720 Mister Cunningham gave a qualified assent. It's like everything else 362 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.480 in this world, he said. You get some badmins and 363 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:55.920 you get some good ones. Oh, yes, you get some 364 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:59.720 good ones, I admit, said mister Cernan. Satisfied. It's better 365 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:01.960 to have nothing to say to them, said mister mc coy. 366 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:06.200 That's my opinion. Missus Kernan entered the room, and, placing 367 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:11.079 a tray on the table, said help yourselves, gentlemen. Mister 368 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:14.359 Power stood up to officiate, offering her his chair. She 369 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:18.119 declined it, saying she was ironing downstairs, and, after having 370 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:21.400 exchanged a nod with mister Cunningham behind mister Power's back, 371 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:24.920 prepared to leave the room. Her husband called out to her, 372 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:28.359 and have you nothing for me? Ducky Oh you the 373 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:30.720 back of my hand to you, said missus Cernan, tartly. 374 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:35.359 Her husband called after her, nothing for poor little hubby. 375 00:21:36.519 --> 00:21:39.039 He assumed such a comical face and voice that the 376 00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:42.559 distribution of the bottles of stout took place amid general merriment. 377 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:46.720 The gentlemen drank from their glasses, set the glasses again 378 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:49.880 on the table, and paused. Then mister Cunningham turned towards 379 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:53.279 mister Power and said, casually, on Thursday night, you said, 380 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:57.960 Jack Thursday, Yes, said mister Power. Right, oh, said mister Cunningham. Promptly. 381 00:21:58.640 --> 00:22:00.880 We can meet in mc cauley's, said mister mc coy 382 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:04.319 that'll be the most convenient place. But we mustn't be late, 383 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:07.039 said mister Power, earnestly, because it is sure to be 384 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:10.000 crammed to the doors. We can meet at half seven, 385 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:14.039 said mister mc coy. Right, oh, said mister Cunningham. Half 386 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:17.359 seven at mc cauley's be it. There was a short silence. 387 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:20.279 Mister Kenan waited to see whether he would be taken 388 00:22:20.319 --> 00:22:23.920 into his friend's confidence. Then he asked, what's in the wind. 389 00:22:24.759 --> 00:22:27.759 Oh it's nothing, said mister Cunningham. It's only a little 390 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:31.160 matter that we're arranging about for Thursday the opera, is it, 391 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:33.920 said mister Cernan. No, No, said mister Cunningham in an 392 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:38.200 evasive tone. It's just a little spiritual matter. Oh, said 393 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:42.440 mister Curnan. There was silence again. Then mister Power said, 394 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:45.400 point blank, to tell you the truth. Tom, We're going 395 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:48.720 to make a retreat. Yes, that's it, said mister Cunningham. 396 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:51.400 Jack and I and mc coy here, we're all going 397 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.799 to wash the pot. He uttered the metaphor with a 398 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:59.119 certain homely energy, and, encouraged by his own voice, proceeded, 399 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:02.400 You see, we may as well all admit we're a 400 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:05.279 nice collection of scoundrels. One and all. I say, one 401 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:07.799