Page 33 has been annotated and Page 34 has been posted.

Deasy's Letter Full of Rubbish

I started annotating the first full paragraph but decided that it's more of Mr. Deasy's letter, and Stephen is only scanning over it. The specifics are not important. All you really need to know is that he believes that the continental Europeans have found a cure for hoof and mouth disease, but according to history he's a bit premature.

If you feel that you really can't sleep without learning the state of hoof and mouth disease at the beginning of the 20th century, Don Gifford's Ulyssses Annotated will send you on your way to finding the answer.

But I think it's relevance to the book is that the subject is boring and that Mr. Deasy is a bully and a blow-hard of the first order.

Another Anti-Semitic Brit in Ireland

The meat of the page happens a little farther down, when Mr. Deasy finally shows his hand:

"Mark my words, Mr Dedalus....England is in the hands of the jews. In all the highest places: her finance, her press. And they are the signs of a nation's decay."

If you didn't like this character before, Joyce has all but guaranteed that Deasy moves from being a standard-issue blow-hard to becoming "The Execrable Mr. Deasy"©.

Stephen tries to parry this comment by saying, "A merchant...is one who buys cheap and sells dear, jew or gentile, is he not?" This comment subtly pricks at the English (and Deasy's praise of all English as monetary geniuses). But it sails right over The Execrable Mr. Deasy's© head.

Judaism is a running theme of this book. So far, we have both references of the British Emprire--The Execrable Mr. Deasy's© and Haines--spout off about how the Jews are destroying the empire. Deasy does it here, and Haines, of course, says, "I don't want to see my country fall into the hands of German jews either. That's our national problem, I'm afraid, just now."

And of course the honorable Leopold Bloom is Jewish.

Though I haven't read up on it, I'm guessing that Judaism is a symbol for Ireland's outsider status. And I suspect that once Stephen and Leopold finally meet up, they will find common ground in the mutual alienation.

New Contributed Pages

In annotating this page, I've added or updated the following pages:

• An update of the Jew page, because on this page Joyce gives us another crucual example of British anti-Semitism.
• The William Blake poem Auguries of Innocence, which Stephen quotes in reference to The Execrable Mr. Deasy's © screed.
  

—I don't mince words, do I? Mr Deasy asked as Stephen read on.

Foot and mouth disease. Known as Koch's preparation. Serum and virus. Percentage of salted horses. Rinderpest. Emperor's horses at Murzsteg, lower Austria. Veterinary surgeons. Mr Henry Blackwood Price. Courteous offer a fair trial. Dictates of common sense. Allimportant question. In every sense of the word take the bull by the horns. Thanking you for the hospitality of your columns.