Final answer:
Hawthorne metaphorically indicates he found the ragged scarlet letter along with old papers in the Salem Custom-House, which inspired the story of 'The Scarlet Letter'.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student's question pertains to the discovery of the scarlet letter referenced by Nathaniel Hawthorne. However, it seems there might be some confusion as the text provided does not match the work in which the Scarlet Letter is found, which is actually a novel by Hawthorne titled "The Scarlet Letter" and not "Young Goodman Brown".
Instead, the discovery Hawthorne refers to, of finding the ragged Scarlet Letter, is metaphorically related to his finding of old papers in the Salem Custom-House, which inspires the story of "The Scarlet Letter". In the introduction to the novel, Hawthorne describes a fictional account where he found a cloth embroidered with a scarlet 'A' along with a manuscript written by a previous surveyor of the Custom-House, which he then uses as a framework for his story.