We read as far as "... young heathen was quickly appeased." (Penguin 464.31) (Gabler 13.403)
On these pages we read about what Gerty MacDowell yearns after, her current home-life, and we get to know a bit more about Cissy Caffrey. About the funny, daring, madcap Ciss with her golliwog curls* (Penguin 459.28). And then there came out upon the air the sound of voices and the pealing anthem of the organ (Penguin 460.8) from the church of Mary, Star of the Sea, situated near Sandymount Strand. A temperance retreat was going on in the church at this time.
Gerty, who would never see seventeen again, yearns in vain. She thinks first of Reggy Wylie T. C. D., the boy on the bicycle. Of course once he had snatched a half kiss, ending only on the end of her nose, but Gerty knew that strength of character had never been his strong point. Gerry is kind of desperate because she has been waiting ... to be asked. She yearns after a manly man with a strong quiet face, his hair slightly flecked with grey. She imagines how she would care for such a man, how she would keep their house (a beautifully appointed drawingroom with pictures and engravings and the photograph of grandpapa Giltrap's lovely dog Garryowen), what she would prepare for him (griddlecakes and queen Ann's pudding)...
Meanwhile Edy Boardman has buttoned up Tommy Caffrey's knickerbockers and tries to send him off to play with Jacky and to be good now. Tommy of course wants his ball which the baby in the pushcart is playing with. Though specifically forbidden by Edy to do it, Cissy manages to get the ball and give it to Tommy. All this goes to show the hidden tension in the friendship amongst the three girls.
In the church nearby, the men's temperance retreat is being conducted by the reverend John Hughes S. J. Listening to the sounds coming from the church, Gerty thinks of her father, a prey to the fumes of intoxication. (This is one of the many touches of sad realities present in the background of this episode that is otherwise quite kitschy.) She loved him still with all his faults. Gerty thinks of the time when they all had supper with Mr Dignam and his family. Mr Dignam that died suddenly and was buried. Her mother had said to the father to let that be a warning. Oh, her mother! Her snuff taking mother! Her mother who had those raging splitting headaches! Gerty was not only nice to her father, she helped her mother too, and looked after their house by turning off the gas at the main every night, by tacking up on the wall of that place (referring euphemistically to the toilet) sentimental pictures, for instance one of halcyon days.
It is with the description of the twins playing with the ball that a gentleman in black sitting there by himself is brought into the picture (a link to Nausicaa in the Odyssey, where it is the girls at play with a ball at the beach onto which Odysseus has been washed who wake him with their screams). Who this gentleman is, is really easy to guess) The ball kicked by Jacky towards the seaweedy rocks is kicked back by the gentleman towards Cissy, but lands right under Gerty's skirt. Gerty tries to kick it away as a delicate pink creeps into her pretty cheek. She ventures at the same time a look at him (the gentleman) and the face that met her gaze there is the twilight, wan and strangely drawn, seemed to her the saddest she had ever seen. We are also told that, till then they had only exchanged glances. So, suddenly, we learn that she had seen this gentleman already and, in retrospect, realize that she has been aware of him watching and has been acting with him in mind all along.
The litany of Loreto is being recited at the church, verses of which are interspersed in the text (Virgin most merciful, mystical rose, pray for us). Gerty in her musings remembers being taught by Father Hughes that the Virgin Mary would never abandon those who, though careworn and erring, invoke her help. We then hear some more about what is going on close by, the twins playing, the girls watching over them and the baby in the pushcart, until the baby wets himself, which causes some distress, and starts crying. Cissy is quick to deal with everything and, always readywitted, comforts and appeases him adroitly.
* The term golliwog is quite a loaded term. More information is available here.
On these pages we read about what Gerty MacDowell yearns after, her current home-life, and we get to know a bit more about Cissy Caffrey. About the funny, daring, madcap Ciss with her golliwog curls* (Penguin 459.28). And then there came out upon the air the sound of voices and the pealing anthem of the organ (Penguin 460.8) from the church of Mary, Star of the Sea, situated near Sandymount Strand. A temperance retreat was going on in the church at this time.
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| (Source: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00492/a9385490-6823-11e3-_492882c.jpg) |
Meanwhile Edy Boardman has buttoned up Tommy Caffrey's knickerbockers and tries to send him off to play with Jacky and to be good now. Tommy of course wants his ball which the baby in the pushcart is playing with. Though specifically forbidden by Edy to do it, Cissy manages to get the ball and give it to Tommy. All this goes to show the hidden tension in the friendship amongst the three girls.
In the church nearby, the men's temperance retreat is being conducted by the reverend John Hughes S. J. Listening to the sounds coming from the church, Gerty thinks of her father, a prey to the fumes of intoxication. (This is one of the many touches of sad realities present in the background of this episode that is otherwise quite kitschy.) She loved him still with all his faults. Gerty thinks of the time when they all had supper with Mr Dignam and his family. Mr Dignam that died suddenly and was buried. Her mother had said to the father to let that be a warning. Oh, her mother! Her snuff taking mother! Her mother who had those raging splitting headaches! Gerty was not only nice to her father, she helped her mother too, and looked after their house by turning off the gas at the main every night, by tacking up on the wall of that place (referring euphemistically to the toilet) sentimental pictures, for instance one of halcyon days.
It is with the description of the twins playing with the ball that a gentleman in black sitting there by himself is brought into the picture (a link to Nausicaa in the Odyssey, where it is the girls at play with a ball at the beach onto which Odysseus has been washed who wake him with their screams). Who this gentleman is, is really easy to guess) The ball kicked by Jacky towards the seaweedy rocks is kicked back by the gentleman towards Cissy, but lands right under Gerty's skirt. Gerty tries to kick it away as a delicate pink creeps into her pretty cheek. She ventures at the same time a look at him (the gentleman) and the face that met her gaze there is the twilight, wan and strangely drawn, seemed to her the saddest she had ever seen. We are also told that, till then they had only exchanged glances. So, suddenly, we learn that she had seen this gentleman already and, in retrospect, realize that she has been aware of him watching and has been acting with him in mind all along.
The litany of Loreto is being recited at the church, verses of which are interspersed in the text (Virgin most merciful, mystical rose, pray for us). Gerty in her musings remembers being taught by Father Hughes that the Virgin Mary would never abandon those who, though careworn and erring, invoke her help. We then hear some more about what is going on close by, the twins playing, the girls watching over them and the baby in the pushcart, until the baby wets himself, which causes some distress, and starts crying. Cissy is quick to deal with everything and, always readywitted, comforts and appeases him adroitly.
* The term golliwog is quite a loaded term. More information is available here.
