A toll, a toll

• toll: (Irish) to bore, pierce, perforate[1]

• tollé: (French) outcry, hue and cry.[2]

• at all, at all: (Anglo-Irish) a phrase which is repeated several times throughout FW

• toll: the sound of a death knell

• toll: a penalty
  • death toll: the number of fatalities in a battle or accident
  • toll-gate: a gate where tolls are collected → the Chapelizod turnpike had a toll-gate → FW 003.22: Upturnpikepointandplace
  • To cross the River Liffey on the Ha'Penny Bridge cost a half-penny toll
  • "In ancient times some believed that placing a coin in the mouth or two coins in the eyes of the deceased, would help pay the toll for the ferry to help cross the Styx river which would lead one to the entrance of the underworld. If some could not pay the fee it was said that they would never be able to cross the river. This ritual was performed by the relatives." Wikipedia
  • killy killy - References the river and death at the same time, "kill: (Dutch) creek, stream, river"

• atole: (Spanish) a Spanish or Mexican porridge or gruel made of maize meal and water or milk

• atoll: a ring-shaped coral island
  • Dictionary

• O'Toole: St Laurence O'Toole, the patron saint of Dublin
  • Third Census of Finnegans Wake

• toll: (German) mad, (German, sl.) great; a toll, a toll appr. oh great, oh great

• "Sod's brood, be me fear! Sanglorians, save! Arms apeal with larms, appalling. Killykill-killy: a toll, a toll."
  • Metaphysical meaning: Crossing into hell. Sodmites should be fearful. Glorious Saints will be saved. Arms raised up with tears. To cross the river into the underworld you need to pay the toll.
  • Sexual Meaning: To cross into the underworld of humanity - street whores and whore houses. To spend time with them you must pay a toll. Sod's Brood (Sodomites or Sodam's Children) will demand abuse and like to feel fear so they ask for it "be me fear!" (Be my fear! They are asking the whore to embody what fear means to them) Sanglorians (Glorious Saints) will "be saved" because they avoid sin by walking past the whore that calls out to them or perhaps give her money as charity and expect no payment. Arms apeal with larms (french for tears) is an appeal with arms flailing and eyes crying. In this case the whore might be pleading with them and using tears for sympathy. Kill = death, Killy = little death. Just like Bill is a man and Billy is a child. An Orgasm is called "a little death" in French "La petite mort." (FW was written in France.) When you put this all together. "Killy Killy: a toll, a toll." = A "french" whore calling out that to get an orgasm you have to pay the toll. When you add "Arms apeal with larms (french for tears)" = She is pleading with this man to hire her, her arms are flailing and she is crying (perhaps because she needs the money to support a child like Fantine in Les Misérables, or maybe as a trick to appeal to sympathy). She reminds him, in the tone of a shop merchant advertising her wares, that he can orgasm for a small fee. She uses "Little Death" as a euphemism the same way drug dealers call their drugs "Candy" So she is saying, "Little Death for sale, Little Death for sale, but only if you pay the small fare, only if you pay the fare"
  • Possible Higher Meaning:
    • The whore is a metaphor for HCE's wife and for all women (or men) who must give something up in exchange for their orgasm.
    • Which means that to have pleasure in this life is to accept the price of suffering and ultimately death.
    • Through orgasm we produce children/new life (a form of genetic reincarnation/immortality) that continues the cycle of humanity and the cycle of the family. So, in the sentance "Killy Killy, a toll, a toll" The toll you pay is the cost of being a parent. The effort you put in and eventually being overthrown in power by your children.
    • Kill = river in dutch and in this context could refer to river of sperm. And, also menstral river, and the flow of fluids in birth. So, Killy Killy also = the river of life, a variant on the Liffey.
  • Additional Meaning: Giving Birth. "Sod's brood, be me fear!" = Woman is afraid of defecating. Feces = Sod's Brood (Sodomites Brood). "Sanglorians, save!" = A cry for nurses to save the dying mother. "Arms apeal with larms, appalling." The father and family in tears and also the newborn child crying and flailing their arms. "Killykill-killy: a toll, a toll." Death of the mother was the toll that was paid for bringing this life into the world. A little death ("killy") because her spirit (and genes) live on in her child.