"We've heard it sinse sung thousandtimes."

(337.15-339.17)  Another tough passage today.  (I can hear you saying, "Yeah, aren't they all tough?")  It seems like an important one though, for it presents the start of an extended dialogue between Butt and Taff.  First, though, comes a brief interlude that serves as a transition from yesterday's passage into the Butt and Taff play.  The interlude has us going into a relaxing meditation by envisioning a peaceful Phoenix Park encounter between the two young women ("twee cweamy wosen"), HCE ("a stotterer" and "one biggermaster Omnibil"), and the three soldiers ("three longly lurking lobstarts").  In this version, we join in the encounter as we "[p]et her, pink him, play pranks with them."  The young women smile, HCE appreciates the attention, and the soldiers participate in the practical jokes.  As we're instructed to "[f]eel the wollies drippeling out of your fingathumbs," it's hard not to appreciate this great, seemingly out-of-nowhere passage.

But the patrons now are anxious for some entertainment.  "We want Bud," they call out.  "We want Bud Budderly.  We want Bud Budderly boiddily."  This is Butt, of the aforementioned Butt and Taff, and the patrons want to hear the song they've heard "sinse sung thousandtimes."  The players will act out "How Burghley shuck the rackushant Germanon" (or how Buckley shot the Russian General).

The scene opens with applause from the pub patrons as two soldiers take the stage ("A public plouse.  Citizen soldiers.").  I've learned that there's a lot of scholarly debate about the practical particulars of the scene now commencing.  The first question is, "Through which form of media is the play being presented?"  In the Skeleton Key, Campbell and Robinson write that it is a radio play presented by two vaudeville comedians.  Edmund L. Epstein, the editor of the Collected Works edition of the Skeleton Key (which I am using), comments that more recent commentators have suggested that the play is on a television in the pub, but that this is debatable because the television is not turned on until later in the chapter.  Tindall agrees in his Reader's Guide that this could be a television program, but prefers to think that it is actually HCE verbally presenting another version of his story.  Given the visual stage notes included by Joyce, I am in the camp that thinks this is a visual performance (and thus not a radio play).  But, for the moment, I'll argue for a different interpretation:  Perhaps this is a live-action play performed by two pub patrons as HCE ("Milster Malster") sits watching from his chair.  Butt and Taff represent HCE's sons, and it would be appropriate for two patrons to take on these roles as forces and soldiers opposed to HCE.  The live action interpretation seems to square the visual stage directions with the fact that the television isn't turned on until later.  (I reserve the right to reverse my opinion, though.)

The second question is, "Which brother corresponds to which character?"  Campbell, Robinson, and Tindall agree that Butt is Shem and Taff is Shaun.  Eliot, however, notes that the more recent interpretation is that Butt is Shaun and Taff is Shem.  I agree with this latter reading of view.  Taff is introduced as a contemplative monk with his head in the clouds, playfully prodding his counterpart to tell the story of Buckley and the Russian General.  Butt is the practical man of action of apparently witnessed the affair and is here to tell the story.  It would seem that Taff has to be Shem, and Butt has to be Shaun.

Anyway, back to the narrative.  Taff, as I mentioned before, asks Butt to tell the story.  Butt hesitates for a moment, and his words ("But da.  But dada, mwilshsuni.") indicate that he is a bit uneasy about the whole thing because it's reminiscent of his father's story (and perhaps his own eventual story, as well).  Unrelenting, Taff gives a long speech in an attempt to encourage Butt to go on, and it is ultimately successful.  Butt begins the story with the Russian General enveloped by enemies ("He was enmivalluped.").  He then goes on to describe the General's garments, and today's passage concludes with an interruption (I'm thinking it's from the radio, which is playing in the background while the two patrons act out the play) in the form of an advertisement for a men's clothing store, Karrs and Polikoff's.