THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER

The bulk of the following passage, which was designed to precede the "Letter," was never recopied by Joyce.
 
     And congruously enough the confusion of its composition was fitly capped by the zigzaggery of its delivering delivery. The postman mentioned on page 80 and not for the 1st time in history for just as, it has been more than once pointed out, the demise of one parish priest or curator is sure to be followed sooner or later by other parochial demises of an allied nature. Though, coming now to the postman mentioned on hastily left on p 80, though his qualifications for that particular post postal or office were known only to a limited circle of friends the spectacle of the Lucalizod lettercarrier, an a most capable official of very superior appearance in his emptybottlegreen jerkin, at once gave doubters doubtfull a vouch for his bifinalist zeal zaal. His movements showed that Both North & South sides of the roadway were visited by him in turn in the discharge of his important duty and during which he got a number of stumbles which seemed appeared to startle him very much and while he allowed simple & unfranked correspondence to escape automatically from the mailbag . . .ed to him, his the unerring zeal in with which amid a blizzard with low visibility and on a everevenground
sorting he sorted & secured for special immediate home delivery all missives packages containing bullion or eatables, made him immediately in a manner of Shaun the Post a man, seen, pitied felt for, & envied respected & looked up to.
     Thus two was a woman's petition, maid, wife & mother, offered brought by two sons of wild earth since sainted scholars, Shamus Iacopus Pennifera, and Johannes Epistoloforus Epistolophorus, to their and of all the Lord, offering to him from whom all things came had come once their gift of her knowledge, thereby giving him of his own (the lion's mouth).
     It was this last alone that at last gave HCE the raspberry. Groaning of spirit, he lifted his hands & many who did not dare it, heard him say: I will give £10 tomorrow & gladly to the 1st fellow who will put that W in ____ the royal canal.

A later draft of the preceding paragraph, found on MS p. 42, reads as follows:

 
"but when the facsimile of the letter [written by the joint author] finally reached the alderman's ears his surprise was practically complete so much so as to give him the raspberry. Groaning of spirit With groanings which cd not be all uttered down he sat, he lifted hands up his shirtsleeves, while many in the [baronet publican's] banner room, who did not dare, heard him declare: I will give £10 tomorrow gladly to the 1st fellow who will put her in the royal canal."
 
This version is followed by some notes:
 
"Return to ad park please (Sayings of HCE)
"Woman (lady)"
"jeg vil give ti Punt imorge til dem, forest Fin ever Komde."
"Prayer on Acropolis"
"postman & style of narrative symbolical of our time." 

David Hayman - Joyce, James / A first-draft version of Finnegans wake (1963)