/lit/ - Literature

I'm reading Joyce's Dubliners. The second story is The Encounter. Here's a synopsis along with reactions. Pic related.

>Three school friends agree to skip class to have an adventure in the city.
Ok, could be interesting. Let's see what sorts of adventures they have.

>At the agreed meeting time, one of the boys doesn't show up.
Bummer for that guy.

>The two remaining boys go to the docks and watch the foreign freighters.
Wow, really interesting. Comeon Joyce, pick up the pace.

>The more rambunctious boy chases a cat into a field. The pair lie down and stare at the sky.
*Yawn*

>A man passes the boys while he walks through the field. He stops walking and turns around to sit next to them in the grass.
Finally, the encounter mentioned in the title! Now the story's going to start.

>The man talks literature. Then he launches into a monologue about his love for little girls.
Eh?

>He excuses himself to jerk off a few feet away from the boys.
wat

>He returns and starts another monologue: "He described to me how he would whip such a boy as if he were unfolding some elaborate mystery. he would love that, he said, better than anything in this world; and his voice, as he led me monotonously through the mystery, grew almost affectionate and seemed to plead with me that I should understand him."
Why is this happening?!?!

>The End

Did I misunderstand what happened in this story? Or was it really about a creepy pedophile guy exposing himself to two schoolboys in a field?

>Human Wizard(Evoker)

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