(260.1-262.2) And now the fun begins. In the Skeleton Key, Campbell and Robinson say that the second chapter of the second book of Finnegans Wake is "perhaps the most difficult in the book." In his Reader's Guide, Tindall argues that this chapter is denser than the previous one. He adds that the next chapter is even denser before saying that "we must content ourselves with calling Chapters IX, X, and XI [Tindall uses running chapter numbers, I'm following Campbell and Robinson in resetting the chapter numbers with each book] the densest part of the Wake." Joyce explained that "the technique here is a reproduction of a schoolboy's (and schoolgirl's) old classbook complete with marginalia by the twins, who change sides at half time, footnotes by the girl (who doesn't), a Euclid diagram, funny drawings etc."
This is, then, the chapter in which the children -- Shaun, Shem, and Isabel -- do their homework. The "text" of the classbook, or textbook, is found in the center of the page, with Shem's commentary written in italics on the left side (at least initially), Shaun's commentary written in capital letters on the right side (at least initially), and Isabel's commentary written in footnotes. Shem's commentary is more amusing and irreverent (such as when he refers to HCE by writing, "With his broad and hairy face, to Ireland a disgrace."). Shaun's is more academic and pretentious (such as when he calls the directions to HCE's pub an "IMAGINABLE ITINERARY THROUGH THE PARTICULAR UNIVERSAL."). And I guess you could say that Isabel's is more "right" in a Joycean sense (such as when a description of ALP's rainbow-colored clothing gives Isabel occasion to imagine a game of strip poker she'll play when she's an adult: "When we play dress grownup at alla ludo poker you'll be happnessised to feel how fetching I can look in clingarounds.")
In keeping with the pattern of the Wake, the chapter begins at the beginning: "As we there are where are we are we there from tomtittot to teetootomtotalitarian. Tea tea too oo." This is a sort of cosmic zooming in, moving from the void that existed before the Word to the present, even if we can't really be sure where the present is. The children give us directions back to the pub, with the various landmarks representing a subject of the children's study. For exmple, "Tycho Brache Crescent" references the astronomer, while "Berkeley Alley" references the philosopher. After a trip along the ever-present river and through the hills, to the pub, where "maker mates with made (O my!)," we once again meet HCE and ALP, the creators of the children's world. There are still a lot of questions about "this upright one" and his "zeroine":
Terror of the noonstruck by day, cryptogam of each nightly bridable. But, to speak broken heaventalk, is he? Who is he? Whose is he? Why is he? Howmuch is he? Which is he? When is he? Where is he? How is he? And what the decans is there about him anyway, the decemt man?
These questions, it seems, will be answered in this chapter. The narrator tells us that HCE and ALP will be explained presently: "Easy, calm your haste! Approach to lead our passage!"
(257.3-259.10) Ok, so maybe Isabel wasn't quite up in her room at the end of yesterday's reading, but instead sadly sulked about because she had to go to bed soon. Glancing back over the end of that passage, it seems like her family is trying to cheer her up at the very top of page 257. And, moving into today's passage, we see the children -- "all boy more all girl" -- "running about their ways, going and coming, now at rhimba rhomba, now in trippiza trappaza, pleating a pattern Gran Geamatron showed them of gracehoppers, auntskippers and coneyfarm leppers." This looks like the children -- Shaun, Shem, and Isabel -- running, hopping, skipping, and jumping all throughout the house (and perhaps HCE's pub, if HCE is the "Huddy" in "store Huddy"). As the "tinny" clock lets us know that it's 8 p.m., the children chant a kind of Wakeian nursery rhyme. As they move about, HCE seems to be trying to gather them up as he barks at his customers in parentheticals that interrupt the rhyme, such as "(You'll catch it, don't fret, Mrs Tummy Lupton! Come indoor, Scoffynosey, and shed your swank!)." It could also be the children that HCE's yelling at, although he does seem to be broaching some adult subject matter here: "(You're well held now, Missy Cheekspeer, and your panto's off! Fie, for shame, Ruth Wheatacre, after all the booz said!)." Regardless, the rhyme is brought to an abrupt end by another thunderword, which, by incorporating Danish, Italian, German, Irish, and other foreign words for "shut the door!" (as noted by McHugh), indicates the slamming of the door that shuts the children safely inside the house. The play of the chapter finally reaching its conclusion, we her the crowd's applause with "Byfall." (which McHugh identifies as the German "Beifall," meaning "applause") and "Upploud!"
This being the first chapter in the second book of the Wake, the thunderword reminds us that we are in the divine age of Vico's four-part cycle. Fittingly, then, the thunderword calls to the childrens' minds apocalyptic words like "Rendningrocks" ("Ragnarök") and "gttrdmmrng" ("Götterdämmerung"). This leads into a kind of peace settlement between Shem and Shaun in which Shem (Nick) accedes to Shaun (Mick): "And let Nek Nekulon extol Mak Makal and let him say unto him: Immi ammi Semmi."
This seeming peace achieved (at least temporarily), the chapter ends with a prayer for the children, who have "entered into their habitations." The prayer, addressed to "O Loud," recognizes that troubles will eventually befall the children, but asks for the strength to persevere: "Loud, heap miseries upon us yet entwine our arts with laughters low!" This first chapter of the Wake's second book thus fittingly ends with silence: "Mummum."
(255.12-257.2) Thereto returning from another extended absence (I know, I know), the reading resumes with more shouts being hurled about in contemplation of HCE's arrival. As noted by McHugh, much of this is the children calling upon various orders of knights for their protection, but also found in here is Shem (Pliny the Younger) writing more drummed-up accusations ("calamolumen of contumellas") about HCE ("Pliny the Elder"). This paragraph begins to wrap up with the children shouting to HCE, "And for the honour of Alcohol drop that you-know-what-I've-come-about-I-saw-your-act air!" And it concludes with exaltation of ALP at the expense of her husband: "Punch may be pottleproud but his Judy's a wife's wit better."
This invocation of ALP/Judy introduces her into the scene. The producer of the play, "Mr John Baptister Vickar" (both St. John the Baptist and Giambattista Vico) puts HCE (the Adam figure of the Wake) to sleep and from his side draws his "cutletsized consort," ALP (the Eve figure of the Wake). Here the narrator gives us the physical measurements of this "foundling filly." She stands five foot five inches; weighs 150 pounds ("ten pebble ten"); measures 37-29-37; and is 23 inches around her thighs, 14 inches around her calves, and 9 inches around her feet.
At the arrival of the parents, all the children run home. With their dismissal, Joyce also dismisses the Irish writers who came before him, including Edmund Burke, Yeats, Synge, Wilde, Shaw, Swift, and Sterne. As those luminaries scatter home like children at the arrival of HCE (who in one sense represents Joyce himself at this moment in the books), Joyce delivers a grand proclamation about the Wake and its effect: "For here the holy language. Soons to come. To pausse."
With their playtime done, the children tear into their homework and evening snacks. They have a lot of subjects to tackle, including French, religion, science, literature, Irish history, geography, and geometry. This being the Wake, these subjects often run together and get jumbled into each other. The youngest of the children, Isabel, is sent up to bed. The reading ends with her in the sky (her upstairs bedroom) sad. The narrator asks, "What is amaid today todo?"
Tomorrow (I guarantee it . . . tomorrow): the chapter's conclusion.
