Two Gallants Summary

On a Sunday in August, two young men named Corley and Lenehan walk through Dublin. Corley is telling Lenehan a story, and Lenehan laughs, ostentatiously appreciating Corley’s tale. Lenehan, the narrator of the story explains, is good at ingratiating himself with people who might otherwise think him a social leech. Lenehan asks Corley where he met the woman he’s about to see, and Corley proceeds to talk about his lover, who is a maid. Corley’s speech verges on crude as he brags about how the woman has bought him goods, like cigars, and how he was worried she would become pregnant, but he knows that she’s too savvy for that to happen.

Still walking through the city, Lenehan asks Corley if he can “pull it off,” and if the woman Corley will be meeting will be willing. Corley, the son of a police officer but himself uninterested in work beyond making money as a police informant, assures Lenehan that he will, again using crude terms. The two proceed to talk about the women Corley has dated in the past. Corley says he used to be a proper romantic who was courteous and bought women things. The two men agree, though, that these sorts of romantic gestures are a fool’s game that never get you anything. One woman Corley had been with is now a prostitute, he reveals. After asking if Corley was the one to push her in that direction, Lenehan again asks Corley if he can “pull it off.” Corley, this time annoyed, says vehemently that he can.

Suddenly, the two men come upon a man playing a harp in the road. The harpist looks tired, and the narrator of the story describes the harp as being like a weary woman, with its clothes around its knees. Corley and Lenehan don’t stop to watch for long, though, and continue on their way with the sad music following them. Finally, at a park at the center of the city, Corley sees the maid he previously described to Lenehan. Lenehan, excited, suggests that the two men ogle her from a distance. Corley, though, thinks Lenehan is trying to take his woman, and there is a brief moment of tension before Lenehan assures Corley that he doesn’t.

Agreeing to meet up with Corley later, Lenehan goes off on his own through Dublin’s streets. With Corley gone, Lenehan’s demeanor changes, and he takes on a tired and thoughtful persona. He stops in a “Refreshment Bar” where he orders food using a rough voice so as to seem less genteel than he is. Eating a meagre meal of peas and ginger beer, he imagines Corley’s exploits with his lover. He also muses over his dissatisfaction about his own life, wondering why, at almost 31, he is still financially and personally insecure. He wishes to settle down, without having any idea how that might be possible. Finishing his meal, he begins walking once more, encountering some friends who he talks to briefly before continuing on his way.

Still wondering about Corley, Lenehan then has the sneaking suspicion that Corley has betrayed him, and that Corley will not show up at their prearranged meeting point. But at just that moment Corley appears with his lover. Lenehan watches as Corley and his lover walk near a house; Corley waits while the woman goes inside. She hurries out of the house and gives Corley something that Lenehan can’t see. Lenehan hails Corley to see what has happened, and wordlessly Corley opens his palm to display a small gold coin lying there.