The reading stopped at ". . . Dolphin's Barn Lane Dublin." (11.899)
Summary:
Listening to the song, When first I saw that form endearing . . , coming from the bar, Richie Goulding recognizes his brother-in-law's voice. The strained relationship between the two does not lessen his appreciation for Simon Dedalus's voice. Bloom asks Pat, the waiter, to set ajar the door of the bar (11.670). They all listen, are moved by the words, by the singing. As he plays with an elastic band he has been carrying in his pocket, Bloom mulls over tenors, Boylan’s visit to Molly and about the life of Simon Dedalus.
When he realizes that the song he is listening to is from the opera, Martha, Bloom thinks of Martha Clifford and the letter he got that morning from her.
Simon Dedalus's voice soars, and he is for them Lionel, the hero of the opera and to Bloom he has become Siopold (11.752): Simon + Lionel + Leopold (Bloom). Richie Goulding remembers his listening to Simon Dedalus singing ‘Twas rank and fame, an aria from the opera, The Rose of Castile, by Michael Balfe. Goulding’s comment that this is the grandest number in the whole opera (11.828), starts off Bloom's thoughts on numbers (Numbers it is. All music when you come to think (11.830).)
Not only Bloom and Richie Goulding but all the others present at that time in the Ormond Hotel listen to, appreciate and applaud Simon Dedalus's singing. The thirsty ones continue to drink. Bronze and gold continue to replenish the tankards. A little bit of flirting goes on. An extension of this harmless flirting is carried on to the dining room with Bloom's asking Pat for a pen and ink to write a reply to Martha. Of course he does not want to let Richie know what he is doing. So Bloom pretends that he is writing a business letter to the newspaper, Freeman's Journal.
