Mam takes Malachy and me to the St.Vincent de Paul Society to stand
in the queue and see if theres any chance of getting something for the
Christmas dinnera goose or a ham, but the man says everyone in
Limerick is desperate this Christmas.He gives her a docket for groceries
at McGraths shop and another one for the butcher.
No goose, says the butcher, no ham. No fancy items when you
bring the docket from the St.Vincent de Paul.What you can have now,
missus, is black pudding and tripe or a sheeps head or a nice pigs head.
No harm in a pigs head, missus, plenty of meat and children love it,
slice that cheek, slather it with mustard and youre in heaven, though I
suppose they wouldnt have the likes of that in America where theyre
mad for the steak and all classes of poultry, flying, walking or swim-
ming itself.
He tells Mam, no, she cant have boiled bacon or sausages and if she
has any sense shell take the pigs head before theyre all gone the way
the poor people of Limerick are clamoring for them.
Mam says the pigs head isnt right for Christmas and he says tis
more than the Holy Family had in that cold stable in Bethlehem long
ago.You wouldnt find them complaining if someone offered them a
nice fat pigs head.
No, they wouldnt complain, says Mam, but theyd never eat the
pigs head.They were Jewish.
And what does that have to do with it? A pigs head is a pigs head.
And a Jew is a Jew and tis against their religion and I dont blame
them.
The butcher says, Are you a bit of an expert,missus,on the Jews and
the pig.
I am not, says Mam, but there was a Jewish woman, Mrs. Leibowitz,
in New York, and I dont know what we would have done without her.
The butcher takes the pigs head off a shelf and when Malachy says,
Ooh, look at the dead dog, the butcher and Mam burst out laughing.
He wraps the head in newspaper, hands it to Mam and says, Happy
Christmas. Then he wraps up some sausages and tells her, Take these
sausages for your breakfast on Christmas Day. Mam says, Oh, I cant
afford sausages, and he says, Am I asking you for money? Am I? Take
these sausages. They might help make up for the lack of a goose or
a ham.
Sure, you dont have to do that, says Mam.
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