"I adn't the arts to."

(343.13-345.15)  After adjusting his coat in the beginning of today's passage, Butt resumes his story.  In response to Taff's request that he admit his involvement in the shooting of the Russian General, Butt says, "I don't think I did not, pojr."  He then proceeds to discuss his involvement.  Butt followed the General for a bit, then noticed that he seemed to be searching for a place to defecate:  "he was . . . lyoking for a stooleazy for to nemesisplotsch allafranka and for to salubrate himself with an ultradungs heavenly mass."  Here, Joyce is close to his maximum sacrilegious level, as the General could easily be preparing to defecate or preparing to recite prayers.  Regardless, after observing the General, Butt could no longer bear the sight, and was "bibbering with vear."

Taff, as could be expected, has little sympathy for Butt's plight.  He mocks his counterpart, saying, "Weepon, weeponder, song of sorrowman!"  Disgusted with Butt's cowering conduct, Taff strikes him, saying, "Take the cawraidd's blow!  Yia!  Your partridge's last!"

Butt, "in acknuckledownedgment of this cumulikick" (as explained in the stage directions), drops down to his knees.  His uniform suddenly changes, as does his bodily appearance.  According to the stage directions, "his face glows green, his hair greys white, his bleyes bcome broon to suite his cultic twalette."  In this state of agony, Butt explains that, while continuing to observe the General, it seemed as if the General was "recovering breadth from some herdsquatters beyond the carcasses."  Perhaps this means that the General was finishing up, but when Butt got a better view under the "veereyed lights of the stormtrooping clouds," it was clear that the General was still in mid-defecation.  It was too much for Butt, who wanted to shoot the General, but "adn't the arts to."

Once again, Taff mocks Butt, saying, "You hidn't the hurts?  Vott Fonn!"

At this point, an interesting stage direction appears as Butt is beginning to speak again.  We read that Butt hears "somrother sudly give twothree peevish sniff snuff snoores like govalise falseleep" and that Butt "waitawhishts to see might he stirs."  On one level, this means that at this point in the play (and this supports my "live action" theory), one of the patrons in the pub has fallen asleep and begun to snore.  The actor playing Butt waits a moment to see if the patron is going to wake up before he proceeds.  In the Skeleton Key, Campbell and Robinson go to another level in their analysis.  They propose that this is Butt hearing HCE snoring as he is dreaming the Wake.  This would mean that HCE is dangerously close at this point to waking himself up and causing the book to end prematurely.

Fortunately for us, HCE doesn't wake up, and the narrative continues.  Today's reading concludes with Butt bemoaning the fact that he was too late in trying to shoot the General.  "My fate!" he says.  "O hate!  Fairwail!  Fearwealing of the groan!"  If he had caught the General pre-defecation, Butt might've taken his shot.  But we do know that the General eventually is shot, so we'll continue to read on to see what happens.