A man I barely knew
shouted to me from the other end of a very long hall:
‘Hey, do you have Ulysses?’
Stunned (this was
hardly the place or the time), I shouted back:
‘Yes, which
language?..’
We were still fifteen
metres apart, swiftly closing in on each other. The man was a distinguished old
professor and I admired his pace.
‘Original’.
‘Original’.
‘Sure. You want it?’
‘I do’.
We exchanged a
few courteous words, briefly discussed Irish visas and, seven minutes later, went our separate ways.
One hell of a
conversation, up there with the very best. Today
is the 16th of June, and a good day to remember.
