Joseph and his Burden: "Buck's Head"
- We're back in the town of Casterbridge now, where two men are taking care of Fanny Robin's coffin. One of them takes out a piece of chalk to write Fanny's name and a few other words on the lid.
- Joseph Poorgrass has been given the job of driving the coffin back to Weatherbury. While riding, he feels lonely and wishes he had the company of a person or a dog.
- On his way back to Weatherbury, his loneliness finally gets the best of him and he stops off for a quick drink in a pub. His buddies Jan Coggan and Mark Clark are already drinking inside.
- After a quick pint, Poorgrass gets up to leave. But his buddies egg him on to drink more, arguing that the body outside isn't going anywhere.
- Eventually, Poorgrass ends up staying for so long that he misses the cutoff time for having a funeral service in Weatherbury that day. Gabriel Oak comes storming into the pub and gives him a good tongue-lashing for neglecting his duties so badly.
- Gabriel takes it upon himself to transport the body for the graveyard. When he gets there, he runs into Parson Thirdly, who tells him he's too late. They'll have to hold the funeral the next day.
- Gabriel takes the coffin to Bathsheba's house and has it stored in a sitting room inside.
- Everyone except Oak leaves the room. Before leaving himself, Oak erases a few words that have been chalked into the cover of the coffin.
- The coffin's lid originally reads, Fanny Robin and child, but he scratches out the part about the child in order to protect Bathsheba from the truth: that Sergeant Troy and Fanny Robin had a baby together.