"You and your gift of your gaft"

(91.33-93.21)  Today's passage is a fun one, and in a sense, after having gotten through the hearty, meaty main course of the trial over the past few days, today's reading goes down like a sweet dessert prepared for us by Joyce.  We pick up at the trial's conclusion with the accused, having given his defense of himself, half-kneeling and making the Sign of the Cross with his "paws."  The narrator paints the accused as a Pope in this passage, calling him here "his holymess the paws," and later having him take leave of "the Switz bobbyguard's curial."  The crowd (including the grudging "testifighter" who gave witness against the accused) erupts into laughter in response to the accused's speech.

The narrator tells us that the "hilariohoot" (hooting hilarity) of the windup of Pegger (the accused, who was recently called Pegger Festy) joins with and contrasts neatly with the "tristitone" (sadness, after the Latin "tristitia") of the Wet Pinter (the witness, who has been identified throughout with the initials "W.P.").  The narrator explains that this fits into Bruno's ideas about how opposites are synthesized into a unified whole.  The moods of the two adversaries -- the "hilariohoot" and the "tristitone" -- also recalls the twins Tristopher and Hilary, who figured so prominently in the story of the Prankquean.  This alerts us that we're now going to get a better idea of how HCE's twin sons, Shem and Shaun, figure into this trial scene (as was hinted at a few days ago).

The reaction to the two men -- the accused and the testifying witness -- parallels their "duasdestinies."  A group of 28 barmaids (or "maidies of the bar") mob the accused -- who is now "Show'm the Posed," or HCE's son, Shaun (the Postman) -- and shower him with praise and affection.  As this lovefest goes on, a 29th maid, "a lovelooking leapgirl, all all alonely," emerges and seemingly merges with Shaun:  "the wild wishwish of her sheeshea melted most musically mid the dark deepdeep of his shayshaun."  The sea imagery indicates that this is HCE's daughter Isabel, the daughter of the riverwoman ALP.

The narrative picks back up with the narrator telling as that also amid this lovefest are the "four justicers" -- Untius, Muncius, Punchus, and Pylax (those last two standing in for a halved Pontius Pilate) -- who deliver a verdict releasing the people's favorite, King Festy/Shaun.  As he leaves triumphantly and "scotfree," the testifying witness, "the firewaterloover" retorts with "a vinesmelling fortytudor ages rawdownhams tanyouhide" (i.e., a f.a.r.t.) that causes the 28 maids to cry (while "pulling up their briefs"), "Shun the Punman!"  The witness is thus now HCE's son Shem (the Penman), and this "Parish Poser" is promptly "soccered" to "Drinkbattle's Dingy Dwellings" where this "dovetimid" man is chastised by the chaste belles who say, "You and your gift of gaft of your garbage abaht our Farvver!"  In other words, they're mad at Shaun for testifying against their father, HCE.  (On another level, this is Joyce -- the punman -- mocking himself for his own gift of gab, which he's using to write this "garbage" about HCE, i.e., Finnegans Wake.)  The passage ends with the maids shouting "Shame!" at Shaun in seven different languages.

Didn't I say this was a fun passage?  Having this more extended introduction to HCE's children sheds more light on the preceding pages, and it'll give me more tools to use when I eventually go back to decipher who's who among the shifting figures of the trial.  Glancing ahead, we're now about 10 pages away from the end of this chapter.  I'm looking forward to more fun over the next five days.