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[ Aetat. 25-27 ] J O Y C E 255Stanislaus arrived in Trieste, James had 1 centesimo. Like Shem Joycecould say, 'We're spluched. Do something. Fireless.' 3 'What do you meanto do?' Stanislaus asked. His brother replied, 'To give lessons.' Stanislausrepeated the arguments he had put forward in his letters, and added thatwith summer coming no one would want lessons. Joyce laughed andreplied, 'Well, then, I have you.' 4Yet if there had been no Stanislaus,Joyce would doubtless have invented one.Almost at once Joyce began to show that his brother had too little faithin his dexterity. It was true that he owed Francini money, but Francinikindly took him into his house for a few days notwithstanding. It was truethat Artifoni had no need for a second English teacher; on the otherhand, he did not want Joyce entering into competition with him, and hewas particularly reluctant to lose such prominent pupils as Count Sordina,Baron Ralli, and Roberto Prezioso, who were devoted to Joyce. Hetherefore thought the matter over again, and offered Joyce fifteen crowns(12/6) a week for six hours' teaching. 5 Joyce agreed at once; the work wasmore palatable than that at the bank, the schedule was easy, Artifonicould never resist an importunate borrower. That the job was badly paidand precarious did not ruffle him.All Joyce's old pupils were pleased to see him again, and Prezioso wasespecially friendly. He had hired Francini as a reporter for17 Piccolo dellaSera the previous June, 6and it occurred to him now to commission Joyceto do a series of articles on the evils of empire as found in Ireland. ThePiccolo's readers could be depended upon to see the parallel with the evilsof empire as found in Trieste, i will pay you at a higher rate than othercontributors,' he told Joyce, 'for two reasons, first,because you are writingin a foreign language, and second, because you need money.' 7Joyceat once set to work, happy to be able to demonstrate the elegance of hisItalian. He wrote the firstarticle on March 22, 1907, the second on May19, and the third on September 16. Prezioso asked the novelist SilvioBenco to go over the articles for possible errors; Benco found Joyce'slanguage a bit hard and cautious, but still expressive and precise. Hemade a few corrections but when Joyce contradicted him on one point,and proved to be right, Benco withdrew. 8Joyce was himself well content with the result, and remarked to Stanislaus,i may not be the Jesus Christ I once fondly imagined myself, butI think I must have a talent for journalism.' 9 The text of these curiousarticles 10might be Stephen's assertion at the beginning of Ulysses that asan Irishman he serves two masters, an English and an Italian. 11Theirforce as Irish propaganda is, however, considerably diminished by Joyce'sreservations about his own people. The firsttwo articles have as much tosay against them as against the British empire and the Vatican; only thethird treats them sympathetically, as if Joyce had succumbed to his nationat last.Joyce focused the firstarticle, '11 Fenianismo,' on the death in Dublin