Jenny asks Bobby to go to Lough Derg
Dublin Core
Title
Jenny asks Bobby to go to Lough Derg
Subject
Literature--Twentieth Century--Sean O'Faolain--Lough Derg
Description
The story opens as Jenny asks to visit Patrick's purgatory, to the confusion of her male companion Bobby
Creator
Sean O'Faolain, 1900-1991
Source
The Lovers of the Lake', in The Collected Stories of Sean O'Faolain, Vol. 2, pp. 18-43, here p. 18
Publisher
Constable and Company, London
Date
1981
Rights
Citation for the purposes of criticism
Format
Edited edition
Language
English
Type
Collection of short stories
Identifier
DD_0233
Coverage
54.616218, -7.876212
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
“’They might wear whites,’ she had said, as she stood sipping her tea and looking down at the suburban tennis players in the square. And then, turning her head in that swift movement that always reminded him of a jackdaw: 'By the way, Bobby, will you drive me up to Lough Derg next week?'
He replied amiably from the lazy deeps of her armchair.
‘Certainly! What part? Killaloe? But is there a good hotel there?’
‘I mean the other Lough Derg. I want to do the pilgrimage.’
For a second he looked at her in surprise and then burst into laughter; then he looked at her peeringly.
‘Jenny! Are you serious?’
‘Of course.’
‘Do you mean that place with the island where they go around on their bare feet on sharp stones, and starve for days, and sit up all night ologroaning and ologoaning?’ He got out of the chair, went over to the cigarette box on the bookshelves, and, with his back to her, said coldy, ‘Are you going religious on me?’
She walked over to him swiftly, turned him about, smiled her smile that was whiter than the whites of her eyes, and lowered her head appealingly on one side. When this produced no effect she said:
‘Bobby! I’m always praising you to my friends as a man who takes things as they come. So few men do. Never looking beyond the day. Doing things on the spur of the moment. It’s why I like you so much. Other men are always weighing up, and considering and arguing. I’ve built you up as a sort of magnificent, wild, brainless tomcat. Are you going to let me down now?
After a while he had looked at his watch and said:
‘All right, then. I’ll try and fix up a few days free next week. I must drop into the hospital now. But I warn you, Jenny, I’ve noticed this Holy Joe streak in you before. You’ll do it once too often.’…”
He replied amiably from the lazy deeps of her armchair.
‘Certainly! What part? Killaloe? But is there a good hotel there?’
‘I mean the other Lough Derg. I want to do the pilgrimage.’
For a second he looked at her in surprise and then burst into laughter; then he looked at her peeringly.
‘Jenny! Are you serious?’
‘Of course.’
‘Do you mean that place with the island where they go around on their bare feet on sharp stones, and starve for days, and sit up all night ologroaning and ologoaning?’ He got out of the chair, went over to the cigarette box on the bookshelves, and, with his back to her, said coldy, ‘Are you going religious on me?’
She walked over to him swiftly, turned him about, smiled her smile that was whiter than the whites of her eyes, and lowered her head appealingly on one side. When this produced no effect she said:
‘Bobby! I’m always praising you to my friends as a man who takes things as they come. So few men do. Never looking beyond the day. Doing things on the spur of the moment. It’s why I like you so much. Other men are always weighing up, and considering and arguing. I’ve built you up as a sort of magnificent, wild, brainless tomcat. Are you going to let me down now?
After a while he had looked at his watch and said:
‘All right, then. I’ll try and fix up a few days free next week. I must drop into the hospital now. But I warn you, Jenny, I’ve noticed this Holy Joe streak in you before. You’ll do it once too often.’…”
Original Format
Short stories
Citation
Sean O'Faolain, 1900-1991, “Jenny asks Bobby to go to Lough Derg,” Digital Derg: A Deep Map, accessed April 27, 2024, https://digitalderg.eu/items/show/252.