No More Learning

The Gripel impertinently asks the Mook:te 10 try 10 explain the mysteries ol th~ univmc to him (1S4-~), including in the
qUeJtion alluliom both to the Female Unity, Ann. . Livia, and to the Male Trinity, AUM: 'allinall . . hout awn . . nd liseiAa~' The Moobe, ofcourse, knows IIOthing ol all uu. and will have
10 be told in 11. 2 by Dolph. , who knew the answen anyway. Earwicker claims, in hil apology, to hav~ been '10 devout q
to pronounce tile holy r. . ::ipe thrice: 'I h. . "" been r<<iping om
, Ia. u. . . wi, ~ . . . . . , Luoodoo~ ,Bn. vol. II, pp. S9-4O- ? SK ,6, 11".
"3
? The Drwm-,slruelw(
omomioou> ! ett~n', b. ,t, . . . . . . . ,al, his uncontrollable Inngue betraY' him. When he finally wakes, OM again appe3n , in the context of th~ e. . . tern philosophy which pervades the opening
ofBook IV,
'Verb umprincipiall1 through the trancitive 'pru:<3 . ? . make ,unlike sylp om this warful dune'l battam'. (594-02-1I)
OM is a . ymbol foe the ! un', which here $hin. . Out ova the yawning gap of the F. dda. a1 Earwicker u,es Sunlight Snap to wash hi, o:aggy huttocb----the 'awful Dane's bottom'.
That J oyce ,bould h"", 'uch important $tructul"al patterns a. the d,. . ,am-cyc1es on 110 little-known a model a, the syllable AUM will of oouru o<:ca. <ion no "'rprise. It is hardly more recondite than Vico', tll~Oru:. and, when undentood, serves to give valuable new dimemioru to the reiativityofFiMtgans W. . . . . . The interplay bety;een individnality and univenality in the AUM Itate, ,. . ,-emph:uiwl the importance of ,ubjeetivity and ambiguity in the book and ultimately alto". , the 'ymbolism of
Book IV to e:<pand toward cosmic proportions, 110 making that final chapter the apoth<:mi. \ of the spirit of mankind that J oyce inlend~d it to be.
Ill: SERIAL DREA~1S (532. 33)
Joyce calb On many minor dream-sources in FiMtgafIJ Wak. in additionInAU~I. TwooftheIIIOI! tfert. ikofth=arestories from the T/rQl<J(jt! d <lNi 0", Nights. 'The Sleeper Awakeoed' i, one ofthe best knownofall the tales and existsin many veruon<, being particularly popular in the ca. t in dramatised form. It
reiat<3 the ~. xperience of one Abu al_H . . . ,an who, from mistrust of friend,hip, would ~ntertain only . trangt:n ill hi, bouse. Olle ~vt:ning, inevitably, he met and took home witb him for tbe evcning the Calif Hamun in di. guisc. When pressed by the Califto ~"",pr= a wish for something ill ,. . ,turll fue bi. ho:! pitality, aI_Hasan replied that M wished ooly to b<' able to change place. with Hamull for a day in ordee to rid the city of a CI<lpulous 'hdkb_ Maroun, amused at the ,uggeot;on, contrived to drog
,I1_E. Hume,TI><TItirim! ~ U~WS. Oxf". -d,'9",p. 4'5. ".
? The Dream-Structure
al_Hasan and have him taken to the palace b. dchamher. There he wa! J put to b. d in the Califs nightdoth. . and the whole palace company ord. ,. . ,d to treat aI_H<uan in the morning exactly'" if he ,. ;",. . , the Calif hi"""lf. Whm awakened, al_ Hasan fuund hirrudf in the e<;ntu of a complete court kvt:e, everybody add. . . ,. . ing him as the CalifHaroun. Atfi. . . t at H<uan thought himself ,ti! ! -w<:<:p and dreaming, but the constant in,i,tence of the assembled company convinced him at last h"
wlU indud HaT<:mn himself. After a day of giving judll""m"nt and making mya! decrtt. '! , during which the unwanted ,heikh w a s di$I~>SCd o f , a i _ H a s a n w , , " l e d t o t h e p l e a ! u " " , o f t h e h a r i m . There he sat in . ucca. ion in four diffe,. . ,nt haH" each full of good things and each attended by . . ven gir\, of varying ,kin- colour who were cI. . . . . ssed in all the hu. . or the rainbow. After al_Ha. an had b. en thoroughly gratified in the b. . t of the halll, one of the girl! drugged him again, on oroe. . . from the Calif, and he w ,," t. aken hack to his own hom". When h. aw<>h: there
he ,till helieved himself to be the Calif "od wa, nOI convinr. <:<l. orh" true identity until after a 'pell in a madhouse. Following hi, release aI_Hasan once again met Haroun ill hi! mercltant d;"guise who, <Orry that his j",t have caused ,u"h ,uffering, peTlmaded al_Halan to entert. ain him once mort: in bi! bou. . . There the Calif drugged the young man again and had him
pJaccdin the royal bed as before. AI-Hasan awoke next morning to find himselfeeremoniornly treated '" Calif. MO$t delightful
of all for him w<u the p,. . ,. . nce of the twcnty_dght colourful girls who sang and danced in chorus, linking handl around the bed while ai_Hasan 'threw the bed coverings one way and Ibe culhinm another, (ast his nightcap into the air, I. aped from Ibe bcd, tore olf aU IW cloth. . and threw himself among the girt. . , hi? ? abb w. U fOrward and IW bottom har~; jomping, lwi. ting, contoning and shaking hi! b. lly, >abb and boltom, all in a storm ofgrowing laughter'. The Calif, hidden behind a curtain, was so amused that he began to hiccup and r-alled oul in ddight:
'Ahu ai-Hasan, 0 Abu ai_Hasan, havc you ,w<>rn to kill me~' At this the dance ! topped, silenct fell. A1_Ha. an realised hi, errot" and the now . awfied Calif rewardc<i him with a palace,
<05
? The Dr(Oln-Structure
honoun, and One of tbe girt. . . . wife. After a time of rejoicing, however, it occurred to al-II. . . "" that the Calif bad, through overngbt, omitted to provide him wllh a pension. Fnrbidden by di! cretion to . . .
k directly for money, al_Rao. an hit upon a pIau. He prdended to be dead, and had hi! wife, Sugarcane, lay him out in the prescribed mann~r in the middk "fthe room, wrapped in a winding-sheet, with ru. turban over ru. face and hi! f<:tOt toward. the Kaaba. Sugarcane then went to the royal
palace witb loud lamentAtions over tbe death of ber busband and . . . . . . . . comforted by tll~ Queen, Zubaidab, who gave ber a ricb <um of money to provide fur al_Hao. an'. funeral. Sugarcane returned to al-lI,"an, called 10 him: 'Rise up now from among the dead, 0 father "f jc3t! ' and togetber they rejoiced Over the money. The jc31 wat tlu:n rept"-'lted, with Sugarcane feigning death and al_Ha"'n re<:eiving condolence and money from the
Calif. Zubaidah and the Calif met, each to console the other for the 1. . ,. . of a favourite and, finding tbat their stories did nOI agree, ",nl Mauurto al_H3. . 1an', palace to discoverwbicb or th. two w. . . in fru:t dead . AI_Hasan decided that the Calif ,hould finl of all be given the advantage, and had Sugarcane again feign death. Mau-ur reported wbat he had. . . ,n to Haroun and
Znbaidah, but the Queen w. . . not convin""d ofM. . . rur'. truth- fulness and . . ,nt her nura<: for cQrroboration. This time al_Hasan
prdende<l to be dead. ill the reporB ,till differed, the Califand the Queen went together, only to find botb al_Hasan and Sug"'- cane stretched OUI . . . . if dead. T he dispute now turned On the point of who had died fin t, and tbe Calif declared that he would give ten tbousand dina. . . to the man who could tell him lhe lrUth mth. mailer. Al_Ha. <an then called out from beneath the . hroud tbat he should receive the money,'" he could tell the Calif tbat it W<U he who had died second, from grief. At this lCeming . pe<:cb from the dead the women ocreamed but the Calif guessed the trutb and realised hi. error in not providing al_H<uan wilb a pernion. A prompt and handsome payment w. . . accordingly made, together with an extra . um to celeb. . . . . te the ruing from {be dead.
Roth parB of th;' farcical. tory fit in perfectly with the design ,06
? Th? Dream-Structure
ofFi1I"'gaJIS Wakt. Abu the Beautiful i9 a type ofShaun, ! he Sou who aspire. to the condition of the Fath. . . After a sleep he awakens on a new plane, having . ymbolically become the Falhcr. I. ike Shaun, he is attended by twenty. . . ,ight rainbow- girls who offer him aIlth. ,aWfaction. of the flesh. They. like the twcnty. . . ,ighl girls in FimugalU Watt, dance in a ring around ai-Hasan, whose phallic prancing remind. ! m that Shaun is a maypole. The oociUatioru from <Inc world to aumher are . -c. fleeted in the many <>scillali""" ofJocale and IOrtune in Fil1lUgans
Watt:
'all? a? dreanu perhapsing under lucksloop at last are through . . . It is a sot <Ifa . wigswag, 'Y'tomy dystomy . ? . ' (597. ~O) The mock deaths and resurrectiono of Ihe 'C<! Qnd part arc perhap' even more relevant. T he alternate 'death. ,' ofmak and female parallel the . wingi ng mak_f~male polarity of ! he hook, while al_Haaan'. speech from under the shroud tteaU, Ihe nutbunt of the revived Finnegan nn hi$ bier.
Apart from the broad corresponden= mentioned above, Ihere a. -c at lelUl two detailed aIlUliom 10 the OIory 10 confirm IhatJ<ryU matk UK ofit. At 597. ~6 it is named, in a conlext
full ofallusions to the Th. ". wul! WI 0 . . . ,Nights: '''''''per awaken. ing', while the ,cis of SCven serving. maid! on their rich carpets are described at J~6"9: 'had 1""<:IIal , ucc"l$ivecoloured sc",hanmaido <In the same big white drawingroam horthrug'.
T he other ,tory from the TlwwaNf ani 0", NiKhtr whichJoyce scelll! to have used for the dream-structure is "111e T wo Lives of Sultan Mahmud'. Thi, is the tal~ of a Sultan who, though
pooscssed of a splendid palace in a . plendid capital, had pmod. of acute dcp",lIion when h e envied Ihe lot of the limple ~ple. One day when he wu more than ~uaUy dejecced h~ w. . . . visited by a wise man from che wt:S1 who cook him COa room in Ihe palace whose four windows looked to th~ four points of che campus. Opening e;oeh window in . ucceS$ion the wise man
caused the Sultan to ha1locinat<: fOur scparate ru. . a. . ten in his realm. Immediately afterward. . Mahmud was led CO a fountain b. . . m whkh "nod in the middle of the room. When he looked into the water the old man roughly forced hi$ face down below
"7
? The DTeam? Stmcture
the l urface. At that ""'1' iruUml the Sultan found him. ! . elf no longer in hill palace, but shipwr<:cl<ed in a fordgn land where he was traruformed into an . . . . and forced to work for five yean at a mill before he wa, able to . . ,gain tbe shape of a man. Still in the strange land of his 'other life', he was being forced by a friwlo,,", law to marry ~ frightful hag whell, with a '. . ,mendo", effon, hi. '. . ,al aclf' freed his head from the fountain. To
hi? ? urpnac he di$covere<l thaI only a few mnment. had elapacd ';lIte the old man had forced his face below Ih~ surface. As he was IIOW convinced of hh good fon unc al being a Sultan and 110 longer Jikdy tn wish for Ihe simple life, the wUc man dk- appear<: d.
Thi, moral talc "",ms to be one ",urce of a parrnth. su at 4. 2' :
'olle yeastyday he Ilern<:ly SlnIX\: bi. lete in a tub for to watoch Ihe future nf hh fatel but ere he swiftly 5100k il oul again, by the might of mnoes, the \"Cry water was eviparated and aU Ihe guenne. cs had n'et their exodw '" that ought to show you what a pcntsch=jouehy chap he wa. )'
Jt i. also a funher $(luree for Ihe use of time compfCS. '! ion and expansion in the book. A lifetime may be dreamed in an i""tant; the whole universe may be nothing but the p. . . . ing fancy of a God washing hi! face in the morning, Or the drunken illu';on ofa Finnegan who. e hud i. ,plashed wilh whisky.
<<.
? CHAPTER FOUR
SP ATI AL CYCLES:
I- THE CIRCLE ,
'o n~ cannot hdp noti(ing that rath~r mor~ than half of th~ lin"" nm north_oouth . . . while the other; go we. t--e>.