THE SISTERS 0
There was no hope for
him 1
this time : it was the third stroke .
Night after night
I 2
had passed
the house 3
( it was vacation time ) and studied the lighted square of window : and night after night
I 2
had found
it 3
lighted in the same way , faintly and evenly .
If
he 1
was dead ,
I 2
thought ,
I 2
would see the reflection of candles on the darkened blind for
I 2
knew that two candles must be set at the head of
a corpse 4
.
He 1
had often said to
me 2
: “
I 1
am not long for
this world 5
, ” and
I 2
had thought
his 1
words idle .
Now
I 2
knew they were true .
Every night as
I 2
gazed up at the window
I 2
said softly to
myself 2
the word paralysis .
It had always sounded strangely in
my 2
ears , like the word gnomon in the
Euclid 6
and the word simony in the Catechism .
But now it sounded to
me 2
like the name of
some maleficent and sinful being 7
.
It filled
me 2
with fear , and yet
I 2
longed to be nearer to it and to look upon its deadly work .
Old Cotter 8
was sitting at the fire , smoking , when
I 2
came
downstairs 9
to supper .
While
my 2
aunt 10
was ladling out
my 2
stirabout
he 8
said , as if returning to some former remark of
his 8
: “ No ,
I 8
would n’t say
he 1
was exactly ... but there was something queer ... there was something uncanny about
him 1
.
I 8
’ll tell
you 11
my 8
opinion .... ”
He 8
began to puff at
his 8
pipe , no doubt arranging
his 8
opinion in
his 8
mind .
Tiresome old fool 8
!
When
we 11
knew
him 8
first
he 8
used to be rather interesting , talking of faints and worms ; but
I 2
soon grew tired of
him 8
and
his 8
endless stories about
the distillery 12
.
I 8
have
my 8
own theory about it , ”
he 8
said .
I 8
think it was one of those ... peculiar cases ... .
But it ’s hard to say .... ”
He 8
began to puff again at
his 8
pipe without giving
us 11
his 8
theory .
My 2
uncle 13
saw
me 2
staring and said to
me 2
: “ Well , so
your 2
old friend 1
is gone ,
you 2
’ll be sorry to hear . ”
“ Who ? ”
said
I. 2
Father Flynn 1
. ”
“ Is
he 1
dead ? ”
Mr Cotter 8
here has just told
us 11
.
He 8
was passing by
the house 14
. ”
I 2
knew that
I 2
was under observation so
I 2
continued eating as if the news had not interested
me 2
.
My 2
uncle 13
explained to
old Cotter 8
.
The youngster 2
and
he 1
were
great friends 15
.
The old chap 1
taught
him 2
a great deal , mind
you 8
; and
they 16
say
he 1
had a great wish for
him 2
. ”
God 17
have mercy on
his 1
soul 1
, ” said
my 2
aunt 10
piously .
Old Cotter 8
looked at
me 2
for a while .
I 2
felt that
his 8
little beady black eyes were examining
me 2
but
I 2
would not satisfy
him 8
by looking up from
my 2
plate .
He 8
returned to
his 8
pipe and finally spat rudely into the grate .
I 8
would n’t like
children of mine 18
, ”
he 8
said , “ to have too much to say to
a man like that 1
. ”
“ How do
you 8
mean ,
Mr Cotter 8
? ”
asked
my 2
aunt 10
.
“ What
I 8
mean is , ” said
old Cotter 8
, “ it ’s bad for
children 19
.
My 8
idea is : let
a young lad 20
run about and play with
young lads of
his 20
own age 21
and not be ... .
Am
I 8
right ,
Jack 13
? ”
“ That ’s
my 13
principle , too , ” said
my 2
uncle 13
.
“ Let
him 22
learn to box
his 22
corner .
That ’s what
I 13
’m always saying to
that Rosicrucian there 2
: take exercise .
Why , when
I 13
was
a nipper 57
every morning of
my 13
life
I 13
had a cold bath , winter and summer .
And that ’s what stands to
me 13
now .
Education is all very fine and large ... .
Mr Cotter 8
might take a pick of that leg mutton , ”
he 13
added to
my 2
aunt 10
.
“ No , no , not for
me 8
, ” said
old Cotter 8
.
My 2
aunt 10
brought the dish from the safe and put it on the table .
“ But why do
you 8
think it ’s not good for
children 23
,
Mr Cotter 8
? ”
she 10
asked .
“ It ’s bad for
children 24
, ” said
old Cotter 8
, “ because
their 24
minds are so impressionable .
When
children 25
see things like that ,
you 11
know , it has an effect .... ”
I 2
crammed
my 2
mouth with stirabout for fear
I 2
might give utterance to
my 2
anger .
Tiresome old red-nosed imbecile 8
!
It was late when
I 2
fell asleep .
Though
I 2
was angry with
old Cotter 8
for alluding to
me 2
as
a child 56
,
I 2
puzzled
my 2
head to extract meaning from
his 8
unfinished sentences .
In the dark of
my 2
room 26
I 2
imagined that
I 2
saw again the heavy grey face of
the paralytic 1
.
I 2
drew the blankets over
my 2
head and tried to think of Christmas .
But the grey face still followed
me 2
.
It murmured ; and
I 2
understood that it desired to confess something .
I 2
felt
my 2
soul receding into some pleasant and vicious region ; and there again
I 2
found it waiting for
me 2
.
It began to confess to
me 2
in a murmuring voice and
I 2
wondered why it smiled continually and why the lips were so moist with spittle .
But then
I 2
remembered that it had died of paralysis and
I 2
felt that
I 2
too was smiling feebly as if to absolve
the simoniac 1
of
his 1
sin .
The next morning after breakfast
I 2
went down to look at
the little house in
Great Britain Street 27
3
.
It was
an unassuming shop , registered under the vague name of Drapery 3
.
The drapery consisted mainly of
children 28
’s bootees and umbrellas ; and on ordinary days a notice used to hang in the window , saying : Umbrellas Re-covered .
No notice was visible now for the shutters were up .
A crape bouquet was tied to the door-knocker with ribbon .
Two poor women 29
and
a telegram boy 30
were reading the card pinned on the crape .
I 2
also approached and read : July 1st , 1895 The Rev.
James Flynn 1
( formerly of
S. Catherine ’s Church 31
,
Meath Street 32
) , aged sixty-five years .
R. I. P .
The reading of the card persuaded
me 2
that
he 1
was dead and
I 2
was disturbed to find
myself 2
at check .
Had
he 1
not been dead
I 2
would have gone into
the little dark room behind
the shop 3
33
to find
him 1
sitting in
his 1
arm-chair by the fire , nearly smothered in
his 1
great-coat .
Perhaps
my 2
aunt 10
would have given
me 2
a packet of High Toast for
him 1
and this present would have roused
him 1
from
his 1
stupefied doze .
It was always
I 2
who emptied the packet into
his 1
black snuff-box for
his 1
hands trembled too much to allow
him 1
to do this without spilling half the snuff about the floor .
Even as
he 1
raised
his 1
large trembling hand to
his 1
nose little clouds of smoke dribbled through
his 1
fingers over the front of
his 1
coat .
It may have been these constant showers of snuff which gave
his 1
ancient priestly garments their green faded look for the red handkerchief , blackened , as it always was , with the snuff-stains of a week , with which
he 1
tried to brush away the fallen grains , was quite inefficacious .
I 2
wished to go in and look at
him 1
but
I 2
had not the courage to knock .
I 2
walked away slowly along
the sunny side of
the street 27
34
, reading all the theatrical advertisements in the shop-windows as
I 2
went .
I 2
found it strange that neither
I 2
nor the day seemed in a mourning mood and
I 2
felt even annoyed at discovering in
myself 2
a sensation of freedom as if
I 2
had been freed from something by
his 1
death .
I 2
wondered at this for , as
my 2
uncle 13
had said the night before ,
he 1
had taught
me 2
a great deal .
He 1
had studied in
the Irish college in
Rome 36
35
and
he 1
had taught
me 2
to pronounce Latin properly .
He 1
had told
me 2
stories about
the catacombs 37
and about
Napoleon Bonaparte 38
, and
he 1
had explained to
me 2
the meaning of the different ceremonies of the Mass and of the different vestments worn by
the priest 39
.
Sometimes
he 1
had amused
himself 1
by putting difficult questions to
me 2
, asking
me 2
what one should do in certain circumstances or whether such and such sins were mortal or venial or only imperfections .
His 1
questions showed
me 2
how complex and mysterious were certain institutions of
the Church 40
which
I 2
had always regarded as the simplest acts .
The duties of
the priest 41
towards the Eucharist and towards the secrecy of the confessional seemed so grave to
me 2
that
I 2
wondered how
anybody 42
had ever found in
himself 43
the courage to undertake them ; and
I 2
was not surprised when
he 1
told
me 2
that
the fathers of
the Church 40
44
had written books as thick as
the Post Office 45
Directory and as closely printed as the law notices in the newspaper , elucidating all these intricate questions .
Often when
I 2
thought of this
I 2
could make no answer or only a very foolish and halting one upon which
he 1
used to smile and nod
his 1
head twice or thrice .
Sometimes
he 1
used to put
me 2
through the responses of the Mass which
he 1
had made
me 2
learn by heart ; and , as
I 2
pattered ,
he 1
used to smile pensively and nod
his 1
head , now and then pushing huge pinches of snuff up each nostril alternately .
When
he 1
smiled
he 1
used to uncover
his 1
big discoloured teeth and let
his 1
tongue lie upon
his 1
lower lip — a habit which had made
me 2
feel uneasy in the beginning of
our 15
acquaintance before
I 2
knew
him 1
well .
As
I 2
walked along in the sun
I 2
remembered
old Cotter 8
’s words and tried to remember what had happened afterwards in the dream .
I 2
remembered that
I 2
had noticed long velvet curtains and a swinging lamp of antique fashion .
I 2
felt that
I 2
had been very far away , in
some land where the customs were strange 46
— in
Persia 47
,
I 2
thought ... .
But
I 2
could not remember the end of the dream .
In the evening
my 2
aunt 10
took
me 2
with
her 10
to visit
the house of mourning 48
.
It was after sunset ; but the window-panes of
the houses that looked to the west 49
reflected the tawny gold of a great bank of clouds .
Nannie 50
received
us 51
in
the hall 52
; and , as it would have been unseemly to have shouted at
her 50
,
my 2
aunt 10
shook hands with
her 50
for all .
The old woman 50
pointed upwards interrogatively and , on
my 2
aunt 10
’s nodding , proceeded to toil up
the narrow staircase before
us 51
53
,
her 50
bowed head being scarcely above the level of the banister-rail .
At
the first landing 54
she 50
stopped and beckoned
us 51
forward encouragingly towards the open door of
the dead-room 55
.
My 2
aunt 10
went in and
the old woman 50
, seeing that
I 2
hesitated to enter , began to beckon to
me 2
again repeatedly with
her 50
hand .