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boIs of the Artist-Builder. Ibsen has
a character-Master-Builder Sol–
ness. The latter is Ibsen's symbol
of the Artist-Builder.
Who sits in the middle of the
Ibsen altar? Who sits in the heart
of the Solness altar? It's Hilda
Wangel.
Hilda-Hild'-is
not far from
chilled
. . While, in the Scandi–
navian tongues, the word
wange
stands for
cheeks-or buttocks.
Thus-Hilda Wangel
equals
chilly
buttocks. Or-chilly bombom.
But-there is another builder.
Joyce. James Joyce. He is a Dublin
man. He has Viking blood. He is
a symbol of the Artist-Builder.
Who sits in Joyce's altar? Not
the young Hilda Wangel. It is an
older Ibsen woman. It is Rebecca
West of Ibsen's
Rosmersholm.
It is Miss Rebecca West.
How does Rebecca West qualify
as a
chilly bombom?
Well-she's
a
chilly bombom
because she is a
rather
chilly,
a rather
cheeky ass.
That is how Miss Rebecca got
into the Viking's altar. But-what
is the meaning? the function? the
relevance of her
forty bonnets?
Well-what's a
bonnet?
A
bonnet
is a lady's hat. But–
why
forty?
A
bonnet
is a Scottish hat. Joyce
must have taken his cognizance of
this meaning. For, as if to balance
it, he uses another Scottish word:
stane
..
upon the altarstane.
But–
why
forty?
A
bonnet
is the second stomach
of an animal which chews its cud.
When we consider that Rebecca
West's
Strange Necessity
took some
two hundred and twenty pages,
this meaning has its relevance. But
-once again-why are there ex–
actly
forty?
A
bonnet
is a gambler's decoy
or accomplice.
At this point in my inquiry,
I
noticed a similarity of
chilly bom–
bom and forty bonnets
to
Ali Baba
and the forty thieves.
A decoy. A come-on. A gam–
bler's accomplice. Or-in other
words- a
bonnet
is a thief.
I noticed, too, the word
muez–
zatinties.
(This occurs a few lines
before the reference to
bonnets.)
Mue zzatinties
is a blend:
mezzo–
tints
and
muezzin. Muezzin
is a bit
of counterpoint and a preparation
for Ali Baba and the thieves.
But what is the relevance of
Ali
Baba and the forty thieves?
This phrase is associated
with
Open Sesame!
We have mentioned
Hilda Wangel. Let us now take
note that the word
wangala
is a
term for
sesame.
This.is an added
sign that Joyce had the phrase
Open Sesame!
in his mind.
So-
A
chilly bombom
plus
forty bon–
nets
equals an
Open Sesame.
A
chilly bombom
equals a
chilly ass.
Or-in other words-a chilly ass
plus a couple of bonnets gives an
Open Sesame.
The relevance of
this
becomes
apparent as soon as we return
to
our original set of facts: Rebecca
