Liliata rutilantium.
Turma circumdet.
Iubilatium te virginum. The priest's grey nimbus in a niche where he dressed discreetly. I will not sleep here tonight. Home also I cannot go.
I am going to tackle this here, partly because I didn't get much into it last time, and also because it might be relevant to this following page.
The priest grey nimbus where he dressed discreetly.
I know that a nimbus is a type of cloud. a grey nimbus, a rain cloud.
The Priest's grey rain cloud in a niche where he dressed discreetly.
What about a niche? It means a lot of things, but all circling around the same idea. 1. A good place to be in life of employment. "Oh man, I got this sweet security job at the bank. I really feel like I have found my niche. Things have not been this good since Carter was in office.
2. A special place in the market for a product or a service "I have made a special security system designed exclusively for banks. I do believe I have carved out a niche the bank defense market. Not even Jimmy Carter can stop me now!
3. I think this might be our fish, A shallow recess, inside of a wall to display a stature or something.
Let's try it out.
The priest's rain cloud in a shallow recess in the wall, where he dressed discreetly.
Well, now I'm pretty sure I cant take the idea of a raincloud to be literal. That would crazy. Clouds do not hangout inside shallow wall recess. But do you know what can? A big grey gown, or even a white gown in a shadow, draped over a statue... in a niche of a wall!
Let's try again.
The priests gown, either grey or white, is draped over a statue in a niche in a wall, where he dressed.
It doesn't doesn't seem like a great place, to me, to discreetly change clothes though. Although, if I let my brain kick it around and focus out a little bit. You know what we are almost describing? Maybe? A confessional. I've seen plenty tiny little rooms built in to walls of churches divided in half by a cloth, that can easily be grey.
One more time, The Priests grey cloth hung in a confessional, which is typically built in to a wall of a church, where he dressed discreetly.
I like it, we might be getting somewhere, but "The Priest's" the possessive. does this cloth actually belong to him?
Let's focus all the way out and take a look again.
The priests grey nimbus in a niche where he dressed discreetly
Say that out loud. The Priest's grey nimbus in a niche where he dressed discreetly It sounds a little sing-songy right? Almost a tongue twister. A thing about "P"s and "B"s they are the same sound, only the "B" is voiced and the "P" is just a gust of air. "Voiced" only means your use your vocal cords. to make a sound, but if you're still confused by my ridiculous methods of explanation, just do this. Put your finger on your throat where you feel a little ridge*, just a little above the pit of your collar bone, and make both the P and the B sound. When feel a vibration, that means you are correctly using voice to make a B sound.
A "P"riest's grey nim"B"us in a niche... you know, I typed all that out yesterday and don't feel like getting back into it. Let's move on.
So, what is happening? We are no longer with the key and the boys at the creek. we are now in a class room.
We meet Cochrane, he seems to be looking out the window watching a seal.
A nice few words about a seal calling out to him
I seemed to have been slapped in the face with this word "Usurper", my first roadblock on this page.
Cochrane was abruptly asked a question, the teacher probably saw him looking out the window
"What city sent for him?" "Tarentum, Sir."
"Very good. Well?" "There was a battle, sir."
"Very good. Where?"
Cochrane looks out the window again, trying to remember the answer.
"Fabled by the daughters of memory. and yet is was in some way if not as memory fabled it. A phrase, Then, of impatience, Thud of Blake's wings of excess. I hear the ruin of space, shattered glass and toppling masonry, and time one livid final flame. Whats left of us again?"
Fabled by the daughters of memory.
In Greek myth, Mnemosyne was the titan goddess of memory. She and her nephew Zeus had banged out 9 children known as the Muses of: epic poetry, history, music and lyric poetry, love poetry, tragedy, hymns, dance, comedy, and astronomy.
And yet it was in some way if not as memory fabled it.
And yet, its different than how it is remembered.
Ok, this way over my head. We are getting in to William Blake territory of which I am completely ignorant. Although he is on my list. I had to dig into www.joyceproject.com again. Again, those guys are way better at this. but here we are.
Cochrane didn't know the answer, who would? That was a ridiculous question. We're given the answer: Asculum.
Ah ha! We know now who the teacher is. Good ol' Stephen Dedalus!
Back to Cochrane, "Yes, sir. and he said: 'Another victory like that and we are done for.'" Ok, we are talking about Pyrrhus of Epirus
Stephen, finally cuts Cochran lose, and casts his line to a young man named Armstrong.
"You, Armstrong, What was the end of Pyrrhus?" "End of Pyrrhus, sir?"
Some brat named Comyn, sticks their nose in, "I know, sir, Ask me, sir"
Stephen, who ain't putting up with it, "Wait. You, Armstrong. Do you know anything about Pyrrhus?"
We move from this interrogatoire d'enfants to an image of a bag of Figrolls inside of Armstrong's bag. "He curled them between his palms at whiles and swallowed them softly. Crumbs adhered to the tissue of his lips (spoiled? like the tobacco stuck to Haines' lips, did I mention that before?) . A sweetened boy's breath. Well off people, proud that their eldest son was in the navy. Vico road, Dalkey"
Back to the dialogue. Armstrong, being the clown, confuses Pyrrhus with a pier. (by the way, this is when I figured out how to pronounce his name). All the kids laugh, a "Mirthless high malicious laughter" Armstrong was eating it up. Stephen knew the score, the children took advantage of Stephen leniency and they knew how much money their family paid to be there.
Stephen rolls with the punches though, Honestly, I could never be a teacher, It takes a special person to deal with a new set of smart asses every nine months. I hated my fifth grade teacher. She was an older gal, and had been in the game for a long time. By the time I had gotten to her class, she had already seen too much. It has to be even worse for teachers, because, they go into it with the hope of being a beneficial influence to kids. It's not a job you pick up somewhere, you go to school because you believe in it. Now imagine, slowly after years, having to deal with bratty children, a new batch every year no less. Do you think they can keep up that love for ever? I dunno. I'm here to ask questions, not answer them.
I keep thinking about to the question of why some one would go in to teaching. Around my time, and my place in the world, I imagine they would have had to been in college around the mid 70's by the time their grumpy ass had gotten to me. What other options would there have been for woman, around that time? Go move to a city, Become a hippy? Become a secretary? Factory work? looking at your options, being a teacher didn't sound to bad.
Anyway, I'm talking out of turn. that wasn't my time or place in the world and I'll never really know what its like. But, and even now, I like to think my world view has evolved overtime and maybe I have developed a bit empathy. But, I still look back at her with disdain.
So, Stephen, pokes Armstrong in the shoulder with his gorescarred (gore scarred? how he pictures history?) book. That would have probably been a risky move on my part. I imagine now one could get in a quite of bit a trouble that.
"Tell me now, what is a pier."
"A pier, sir? Armstrong said. A thing out in the water. A kind of a bridge Kingstown pier, sir."
get ready for some more thinking...
"Some laughed. Mirthless but with meaning. Two in the back bench whispered. Yes. They knew: had never learned nor ever been innocent. All. With envy he watched their faces: Edith, Ethel, Gerty, Lily. Their likes: their breaths, too, sweetened with tea and jam, Their bracelets tittering in the struggle.
"They knew: had never learned nor ever been innocent."
What does that mean? What exactly did they know? That STEPHEN had never learned nor every been innocent?
Or
They knew that THEY, the students, had never learned nor ever been innocent?
Let's try the first, "The knew: (Stephen) had never learned nor ever been innocent." It would certainly fit with the rest of the page in regards to the rule they seem to have in the class room.
They knew: that Stephen had never learned
Learned what? Maybe, not learn a particular thing, but maybe, never had the opportunity, to grow and learn as an average adolescent? That is kind of weird way of putting it though. (Boom! Four word alliteration!)
They knew: that Stephen never had the opportunity to grow and learn as an average adolescent.
But is that really the case? I wish I could remember more of APOTAAYM. I bet Stephen sees it that way. I'll stick with it.
They knew: that Stephen never had the opportunity to grow and learn as an average adolescent nor ever been innocent.
I would say that fits, but what kind of things had he seen? And what does that have to do with the pier? I do not know.
They knew: that Stephen never had the opportunity to grow and learn as an average adolescent nor ever been innocent. All with envy he watched their faces: (list of children's names). Their likes: just like Armstrong, sweetened with tea and jam, their bracelets tittering in the struggle.
Hold on. these are some perceptive little brats. I'm not completely sold on this interpretation, but I want to move on.
Armstrong - "A pier, sir, A thing out in the water. A kind of bridge. Kingstown pier, sir."
Stephen - "Yes, a disappointed bridge"
Comyn - "How, sir? A bridge is across a river"
So, here we go again. we're not dealing with the kids anymore.
"For Haines's chapbook. No-one here to hear. Tonight deftly amid wild drink and talk, to pierce the polished mail of his mind. What then? A jester at the court of his master, indulged and disesteemed winning a clement master's praise. Why had they chosen all that part? Not wholly for the smooth caress. For them too history was a tale like any other too often heard their land a pawnshop."
what?
"For Haines' little book of jokes, maybe something clever about a disappointing bridge, No-one here to hear, another cute turn of phrase. Tonight while we get drunk and talk, to pierce the polished mail of his mind, or maybe to cut loose and show him real world talk and skill, that his fancy oxford education didn't prepare him for. But then what? A jester at the court, indulged and disesteemed, winning a clement master's praise. Or a clever funny Irish man performing for his British king, being cheered on while still being looked down upon, being rewarded with a merciful masters praise. Why had they chosen all that part?
"Why had they chosen that part? Not wholly for the smooth caress" I'm lost here, who is he talking about? The children? Chosen which part? The Kingstown pier? The history of Pyrrhus?
"For them too history was a tale like any other too often heard, their land a pawnshop" or history wasn't anything special to them because all it was to them was their resources being bought and sold as if Ireland was a pawn shop.
Let's put this all together.
"For Haines' little book of jokes, maybe something clever about a dissapointing bridge, No-one here to hear, another cute turn of phrase, tonight while we get drunk and talk maybe cut loose and show him real world talk and skill of which his fancy oxford education didn't prepare him. But then what? A clever, funny, Irish man performing for his British king, being praised while being looked down upon, being rewarded with a merciful master's praise. Why had they chosen all that part?History wasn't anything special to them because, they've only been taught that Ireland bought and sold like it was in a pawn shop"
That is the best I've got. I'm also beginning to realize this isn't so much a journal as much as me rewriting a book, poorly.
Stephen brings his attention back to the children. Thinking that if history didn't happened the way it did, like, if Pyrrhus wasn't killed by a beldam, or if Caesor wasn't killed in the middle of March by a bunch of senators. These stories are not to be thought about as insignificant tales. Time has chained them up in the room of other infinite possibilities that they have sent away. But is it possible to see all the other outcomes that didn't happen? Or was the actual out come the only possible thing that could have happened? Go on, Kinch. Tell more false stories like the heretics in Part 1 Haines stopped - in the deep jelly of the water ****12
The children chime in. They want to hear a ghost story. Stephen asks "Where do we start?" as he opens a different book. Comyn, the pet says "Weep no more"
Glossary
Niche - 1. A good place to be in life of employment. "Oh man, I got this sweet security job at the bank. I really feel like I have found my niche. Things have not been this good since Carter was in office.
2. special place in the market for a product or a service "I have made a special security system designed exclusively for banks. I do believe I have carved out a niche the bank defense market. Not even Jimmy Carter can stop me now!"and
3. I think this might be our fish, A shallow recess, inside of a wall to display a stature or something.
Usurper - Someone who takes a leadership role illegally and/or by force.
Pyrrhic Victory - A victory that inflicts such a heavy tyoll on the winner that it is tantamount to defeat. If your have a Pyrrhic Victory, that means that you won the battle, but you lost so much in the fight, that it turned out to be a pointless, and it will probably cause more troubles in the future.
At Whiles - At times
Figrolls - British homemade Fig Newtons
Tittering- Halfway trying to hold in a laugh.
Chapbook - Little old books that were cheaply made. They had short stories, poems. little jingles, stuff like that.
Deftly- In a skillful or clever manner. Lerta, Esperante.
Disesteem - To have a low opinion of something
Beldam - Mean old ugly lady, or a witch
Fettered- Chained up, usually by leg cuffs, or to be restricted or held back
Oust - To remove, some one from a positon or place. To deprive some one of having something.
Places
Tarentum - It's called Taranto today, it is located in south Italy, the inside edge of the heel. The Spartans called it Taras and the Romans called it Tarentum
Asculum - Currently is is called Ascoli Satriano. We, Americans, would probaby call it a town. The Italians call it a Comune. It is situated in southeast Italy. It has a population of 6,188, and its mayor is Vincenzo Sarcone.
Back when it was called Asculum, it was a city of a tribe of folks called the Dauni, who helped the Romans at the Battle of Asculum
Dalkey- (thorn island in Irish) A rich part of Dublin, down on the southeast side.
Vico road- A road, that runs along the coast of Dalkey for about 10 miles
Kingstown pier - Ok, Kingstown pier, First off, it's not called that anymore. And it was only called that for like a 100 years, which in European time isn't very long. Now it is called Dún Laoghaire Harbour, I think it was also called that in the beginning too. Honestly, I'm not sure what its original name was. However in 1820, King George the 4th left Ireland using this port, and they named the town Kingstown. there you go. How do I describe it? It is a really big half circle, in the water, built out of, I dunno, concrete and wood, with a section cut out of it. Now you have two quarter circles. Each of the piers are 1 km long or a smidge over half a mile. and it encloses 250 acres. On a side note, I believe I just found out that, piers and harbors don't interest me very much, I might explore this later.
People
Cochrane- Didn't know where the Battle of Asculum took place, but knew when it was. Good for him. I was always terrible at dates.
Armstrong - A student of Stephen's, comes from a welloff family, lives on Vico road in Dalkey, enjoys figrolls.
Comyn - Stephen's student, probably a bit to eager for Stephen´s and my taste.
Edith - Stephen's student
Ethel - Stephen's student
Gerty - Stephen's student
Lily - Stephen's student
Other Things
King Pyrrhus of Epihrus- Born in 318ish and died at the ripe old age of 47 in 272 BC. He was a Greek king during the Hellenistic period (323 - 31 BC). We was in charge of a Greek tribe called the Molossians and would later become king of the Greek state Epirus. He was a quite a troublesome pebble in Romes shoe. He is probably most know for not knowing when to call it quits in battle. Pyrrhus would often win fights that would cost him too much in the long run. That is where the term Pyrrhic Victory comes from, although I've never heard it before now.
William Blake - Born 11/28/1757 - 8/12/1827. English poet, painter, printmaker, and all around, a very important man in history. He has potential to be my most favorite person ever.
Mnemosyne - Titaness goddess of memory. Her parents were Uranus and Gaia. Zeus was her cousin and consort. The Muses were her kids. The Romans called her Moneta.
