EngLits: Dubliners by InterLingua Publishing

Author:InterLingua Publishing
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: InterLingua Educational Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Clay

The matron gives leave to Maria as soon as their tea is over and Maria looks forward to her evening out. She is a very small person with a very long nose and a very long chin. She is a ‘veritable peace maker’ as everyone is fond of Maria. She just hopes Joe doesn’t come in drunk because he is different when he takes any drink. She nursed Joe and Alphy and Joe often said, “mamma is mamma, but Maria is my proper mother”. After the breakup at home, the boys got her the position in the Dublin by Lamplight laundry and she liked it.

She is glad when tea is over and she comes outside where the streets shine with rain, glad of her old brown waterproof. The tram is over crowded as she arranges all she is going to do in her mind. She hopes for a nice evening and feels sorry Alphy and Joe are not speaking; when they were young, they were the best of friends.

She comes out of the tram and makes her way quickly among the crowds. She buys a dozen mixed penny cakes from the Downes’ cake shop and after a long thought, buys a plum cake from a shop in Henry Street. In the tram, an elderly gentleman makes room for her, chatting about Hallow Eve and the rainy weather. He is nice to her and when she gets out at the Canal Bridge, she thanks him and bows and he bows to her, lifting his hat and smiling agreeably.

Everybody at Joe’s house greets Maria with, ‘O, here’s Maria!’ She gives the bag of cakes to the eldest boy, Alphy, to divide. Mrs. Donnelly makes all the children thank her. Maria says she has something special for papa and mamma and starts searching for the big plum cake, but cannot find it. She asks the children if any of them have eaten it and they say ‘No’. They suggest she’s left it behind in the shop and she feels very sad. Joe says it doesn’t matter and makes her sit by the fire. He is very nice with her and tells all that happened in his office, repeating the smart answers he made to his manager. Mrs. Donnelly plays the piano for the children, who dance and sing. Joe and Maria sit by the fire and talking about old times and she thinks of putting in a good word for Alphy, but Joe gets upset.

After sometime, everything is merry again and they play some games. They decide to blindfold Maria and lead her to the table. When they put on the bandage, she laughs a lot and her hand descends on the saucers. She feels a soft substance with her fingers and is surprised nobody speaks or takes off her bandage. Mrs. Donnelly gets angry and asks the thing to be thrown out. Maria realizes something was wrong and does it all over again and this time she gets finds the prayer book.

After that Joe makes her take a glass of wine.

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