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440 J A M E S [ 1918]Magic. He found two new actors, one English and one American; butafter rehearsals had started both suddenly withdrew. The consulate hadevidently represented the enterprise as obnoxious to English and Americaninterests. Sykes refused to yield, and got together a triple bill forwhich the smaller company would be sufficient. The plays were to beBarrie's The Twelve Pound Look, Synge's Riders to the Sea, and Shaw'sThe Dark Lady of the Sonnets. Joyce had no interest in Barrie, and consideredShaw a mountebank. 33As for Synge's play, Joyce's objection tothe nature of the tragedy, which he had made to Synge in Paris sixteenyears before, remained in the still guarded program note which he composedfor the performance: 'Whether a brief tragedy be possible or not (apoint on which Aristotle had some doubts) the ear and the heart misleadone gravely if this brief scene from "poor Aran" be not the work of atragic poet.' He took special interest in Synge's play because he persuadedNora to play a minor role. She had never acted before and was timid atfirst, but her rich contralto voice, with its strong Galway accent, graduallyacquired confidence. Joyce trained the other actors to imitate herspeech and the Aran speech rhythms. He also charged himself with thepublicity, and wrote to Borach, among others, to come, saying: 'Je vousenvoie un autre programme, que fai arrange. J'ai un peu d'energie n'estcepas? Malheureusement la caisse est basse comme les valeurs des empires(pardon!) republiques centrales. TOUT POUR L'ARTf * 3 4While plans for the triple bill were maturing, Joyce's iritis began again,this time in both eyes, and he was almost incapacitated. The operationof the previous year for glaucoma had not succeeded in preventing thisrecurrence. It was an especially unfortunate time to become ill, for hispain reduced the pleasure he would otherwise have taken in the publicationof Exiles on May 25, 1918, by Richards in England and byHuebsch in the United States. It also exacerbated his irritation over theCarr affair, which came up for a preliminary hearing on June 8. Carr'sattorney, Dr. George Wettstein, who was Norwegian Vice-Consul in Zurich,was known to Joyce, for Joyce had done some translating for himin February 1918. Wettstein implied that his client was willing to drophis suit if Joyce would compensate him for his clothing. Carr denied thathe had called Joyce either 'cad' or 'swindler.' But Joyce refused to giveway, and insisted on continuing the suit. In a minor harassing action,Bennett, the consul-general, wrote Sykes on June 11 and June 22 to askif he was prepared to enlist. On June 14 Joyce's lawyer Konrad Blochsent the court a list of the witnesses who would be called to testify; itcontained the names of Bennett, Smith, and Gann. The next move wasthe consulate's: a letter was sent Joyce, asking him in the most peremptorymanner, with more than a hint of blacklisting him if he refused, to* 'I send you another programme that I've set up. I do have a bit of energy, don't I?Unfortunately the cash box is low like the bonds of central European empires (excuseme!) republics. ALL FOR ART!'