Clay is a short story by James Joyce published in his 1914 collection Dubliners.
Maria, a spinster with a minor job in a rescue mission for prostitutes and alcoholic women, is looking forward to her evening out at the house of Joe, whom she nursed when he was a boy and who is still very fond of her. After attending to a tea service, she goes out to buy cakes for the Hallow Eve party that will be held at Joe’s house. Maria is somewhat maliciously teased by the bakery clerk about whether she wishes to buy a wedding cake. During the tea a similar remark was made. On a tram, she has a bashful encounter with an elderly man who chats with her. She is welcomed warmly at the house by Joe’s family, but she is saddened when she realizes she has lost the plumcake she bought for Joe and his wife. Maria is soon enticed into playing a traditional Hallow Eve game with the children in which objects are placed in saucers and a blindfolded player has to pick among them. Each object is supposed to have...
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