Gemini.Finnegans.Wake.48
The same shop slop in the window. Jacob’s lettercrackers and Dr. Tipple’s Vi-Cocoa and the Eswoards’ desippated soup beside Mother Seagull’s syrup. Meat took a drop when Reilly-Parsons failed. Coal’s short but we’ve plenty of bug in the yard. And barley’s up again, begrained to it. The lads is attending school nessans regular, sir, spelling beesknees with hathatansy and turning out tables by mudapplication. Allfor the books and never pegging smashers after Tom Bowe Glassarse or Timmy the Tosser.
This paragraph is a domestic “state of the union” address, reporting on the mundane details of life in the household after the great man’s death. It confirms that the world continues through the familiar cycles of commerce, household economics, and the children’s education.
## The Daily Grind: Commerce and Economics 🛒
The speaker begins by listing the everyday products that define their world, emphasizing the theme of unchanging routine. The window displays the same old “shop slop”—a dismissive term for cheap, mass-produced goods.
- The Brands: The list includes real brands from Joyce’s Dublin, like Jacob’s crackers and Edwards’ soup, mixed with slightly corrupted versions like Dr. Tipple’s Vi-Cocoa (playing on “tipple,” an alcoholic drink). This grounds the epic story in the reality of early 20th-century consumer culture.
- The Finances: The report then turns to household economics. Meat prices are down because a business failed, coal is short but they have plenty of turf (“bug” from the bog) to burn, and the price of barley (for bread and booze) is high again. This is the practical, day-to-day reality of running a home.
## A School Report on the Lads 🧑🏫
The focus then shifts to the two sons (the archetypes of Shem and Shaun), assuring an authority figure (“sir”) that their education is proceeding as normal, albeit imperfectly.
- Their Learning: The boys are attending their “nessans” (lessons) regularly. Their learning process is described with childish puns: they spell with “hathatansy” (hesitancy) and learn multiplication tables by “mudapplication”—a wonderfully messy word that suggests their knowledge is gained through difficult, grubby, rote work rather than pure intellect.
## Good Boys (For Now) 😇
Finally, the speaker assures the listener that the boys are behaving themselves and staying out of trouble.
- Their Behaviour: They are being studious (“Allfor the books”) and are not engaging in vandalism (“pegging smashers” or throwing stones).
- The Bad Examples: They are not emulating local troublemakers, who are given fantastically vulgar names like “Tom Bowe Glassarse” and “Timmy the Tosser.” These figures represent the world of chaos, rebellion, and misrule that the boys, for now, are being successfully steered away from.
At this time of early morning in Malahide, the paragraph feels like a perfect snapshot of a household taking stock before the day begins—checking supplies, getting the children ready for school, and holding the line against the chaos outside.
16/09/2025, P27.01 , to be continued.