Episode 6: Morning of Paddy Digham’s Funeral:
—The Lord forgive me! Mr Power said, wiping his wet
eyes with his fingers. Paddy! I little thought a week ago when I saw
him last and he was in his usual health that I’d be driving after
him like the. He’s gone from us.
—As decent a little man as ever wore a hat, Mr
Dedalus said. He went very suddenly.
— Breakdown, Martin Cunningham said. Heart.
He tapped his chest sadly.
Blazing face: redhot. Too much John Barleycorn. Cure
for a red nose.
Drink like the devil till it turns adelite. A lot of
money he spent colouring it.
Mr Power gazed at the passing houses with rueful
apprehension.
— He had a sudden death, poor fellow, he said.
— The best death, Mr Bloom said.
Their wideopen eyes looked at him.
— No suffering, he said. A moment and all is over.
Like dying in sleep.
No-one spoke.
Dead side of the street this. Dull business by day,
land agents, temperance hotel, Falconer’s railway guide, civil
service college, Gill’s catholic club. The industrious blind. Why?
Some reason. Sun or wind. At night too. Chummies and slaveys. Under
the patronage of the late Father Mathew Foundation stone for
Parnell. Breakdown. Heart
White horses with white frontlet plumes came around
the Rotund corner, galloping. A tiny coffin flashed by. In a hurry
to bury. A mourning coach. Unmarried. Black for the married. Piebald
for bachelors. Dun for a nun.
— Sad. Martin Cunningham said. A child.
A dwarf’s face, mauve and wrinkled like little
Rudy’s was. Dwarf’s body, weak as putty, in a whitelined deal box.
Burial friendly society pays. Penny a week for a sod of turf. Our.
Little. Beggar. Baby. Meant nothing. Mistake of nature. If it’s
healthy it’s from the mother. If not from the man. Better luck next
time.
— Poor little thing, Mr Dedalus said, It’s well out
of it.
The carriage climbed more slowly the hill of Rutland
Square. Rattle his bones. Over the stones. Only a pauper. Nobody
owns.
— In the midst of life, Martin Cunningham said.
— But the worst of all, Mr Power said, is the man
who takes his own life.
Martin Cunningham drew out his watch briskly, coughed and put it
back.
— The greatest disgrace to have in the family, Mr
Power added
— Temporary insanity, of course, Martin Cunningham
said decisively. We must take a charitable view of it.
— They say a man who does it is a coward, Mr Dedalus
said.
— It is not for us to judge, Martin Cunningham said.
