35 (U78.259)

Mr Dedalus looked after the stumping figure and said mildly:

 

 35th cast. page 78, line 259.

 

　

Mr Dedalus looked after the stumping figure and said mildly:

 

　—The devil break the hasp of your back!

 

　Mr Power, collapsing in laughter, shaded his face from the window as the carriage passed Gray’s statue.

 

　—We have all been there, Martin Cunningham said broadly.

 

　His eyes met Mr Bloom’s eyes. He caressed his beard, adding:

 

　—Well, nearly all of us.

 

 Sir John Gray

"Sir John Gray statue" by Phil Guest is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

Episode 6. Around 11:00 am. Mr. Bloom is traveling by horse-drawn carriage across the city from the Dignam home in southeast Dublin to Glasnevin Cemetery on the northwest edge of the city to attend the funeral of his friend.

 

In the carriage are Stephen's father, Simon Dedalus; Jack Power, who works for the police force; Martin Cunningham, who works for the Irish Governor General's Office; and Mr. Bloom.

 

In the 33rd post of the blog, I wrote that there were two police forces in Dublin. Mr. Power belongs to the Royal Irish Constabulary, which was an armed police force. (Dubliners, Grace)

 

Since it is a carriage, the four sit facing each other. It is assumed that Simon sits in the front left, facing backward, Mr. Power is to his right, Mr. Cunningham is across from Mr. Power, and Mr. Bloom is next to Mr. Cunningham.　　　　　　　　　　

 

The interest in Episode 6 lies in reading about a talking quartet moving through the landscape at the speed of a horse-drawn carriage.

 

The wobbly walking figure is Reuben J. Dodd. He is a Jewish moneylender. The man of the same name did exist, and Joyce's father owed him a large sum of money. To pay off the debt, the Joyce family's property was sold at auction, leaving them penniless. (Richard Ellmann, James Joyce）

The carriage crosses the O'Connell Bridge from the south, passes on the left side of the road, and heads north on Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street). At the intersection with Middle Abbey Street on the southwest corner, is Elvery’s. The passage just before this one says that Ruben turned the corner of Elvery’s, showing them a hand on his back.

 

A tall blackbearded figure, bent on a stick, stumping round the corner of Elvery’s Elephant house, showed them a curved hand open on his spine.

—In all his pristine beauty, Mr Power said. 

 

Perhaps he turned left at the corner from Sackville Street onto Middle Abbey Street. So first Mr. Cunningham, riding forward, finds him, and Simon, riding backward, sees him off.

 

However, I don't understand why Mr. Power hides his face from the window. Reuben is walking with his back to them. Did he try to keep people from seeing him laughing in the funeral carriage?

Simon said  "it would be nice if they broke the clasp on his back." because Reuben has a crooked back. This is illustrated in Episode 10 (U200.892), when it is mentioned that Mr. Cowley owes him money. I noticed this when I wrote the 19th post of the blog.

 

What does "we have all been there" mean? Perhaps it means that everyone has been to Ruben's to borrow money.

 

"broadly" can mean "bluntly, unreservedly" or "broadly or generally". I think it is the latter here. He was afraid to say so explicitly, so he used a broad expression.

 

Mr. Cunningham has a beard, but his face resembles Shakespeare. (U79.345)

 

Why does he look Mr. Bloom in the eye and say in addition?

 

Mr. Cunningham thought that Bloom had never borrowed money from Reuben. The Bible forbade taking interest from one's own kind. He may have thought that Reuben would not lend money to a fellow Jew, Mr. Bloom.

 

A marble statue of John Gray stands at the intersection of O'Connell and Abbey streets. John Gray (1815-1875) was an Irish physician, surgeon, newspaper owner, journalist, and politician.

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