Far from the Madding Crowd, Part 22 of 31

The Sleepy Bookshelf - Slumber Studios

In this episode of 'The Sleepy Bookshelf,' Elizabeth continues her soothing narration of Thomas Hardy's 'Far from the Madding Crowd.' The story follows Joseph Porgras as he transports the coffin of Fanny Robin, a woman whose death has

Key takeaways

• The fog symbolizes both physical obscurity and moral ambiguity, reflecting the hidden truths surrounding Fanny's death and her relationship with Troy.

Main topics

• Mortality and burial rituals
• Secrets and moral consequences

Notable quotes

'Tis pretty drinking. Very pretty drinking, and is more than cheerful on my melancholy errand, so to speak it.'

Conclusion

The episode closes with Gabriel Oak's silent act of mercy—erasing 'and Child' from Fanny Robin's coffin—to spare Bathsheba

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) Thanks for listening to The Sleepy Bookshelf tonight. You make this show possible. If you, like so many, would like to support us, then check out our premium feed, where you'll get ad-free access to the entire catalogue, plus exclusive episodes in between our longer books. There's a link to learn more in the show notes. Hello, it's Elizabeth, and I'm excited to share with you the newest show from Slumber Studios. It's called Sleepy History, and it's exactly what it sounds like. Intriguing stories, people, mysteries and events from history, delivered in a supremely calming atmosphere. Speaker 2 (0:49) Explore the legend of El Dorado. See what life was like for the Roman gladiators. Uncover the myths and mysteries of Stonehenge. You'll find interesting but relaxing episodes like these on Sleepy History and the same great production quality you've come to know and love from The Sleepy Bookshelf. So check it out. And perhaps you'll have another way to get a good night's rest. Just search Sleepy History in your preferred podcast player. Good evening, and welcome to the Sleepy Bookshelf, where we put down our worries from the day and pick up a good book. I'm Elizabeth, your host. Thank you for choosing to visit tonight. This evening will be continuing, far from the madding crowd. But before we do, I would like you to allow your body... to settle into stillness, feeling the weight of yourself supported beneath you. Begin to soften each muscle in turn, relaxing your forehead, your jaw, your shoulders and your hands. Notice your breathing becoming slower and deeper as your body gently releases the effort of the day. Speaker 2 (2:42) Let any remaining tension melt away with every exhale, leaving you calm and comfortable, ready for rest. Last time Bathsheba and Troy had grown increasingly distant, and by Sunday, when Troy asked for £20, Bathsheba feared the money was for the races and pleaded with him to stay. Speaker 2 (3:19) Troy eventually revealed that the money was not for gambling, but wouldn't mention his promise to Fanny. Bathsheba then spotted a curl of golden hair hidden in his watch, and he admitted it belonged to a woman he had once intended to marry. The following day, news reached Bathsheba via Joseph Porgras that Fanny Robin had died in the Casterbridge Union. After a period of hardship and exhaustion, determined to honour Fanny's memory, Bathsheba arranged for her to be brought home and buried with care and dignity. She discovered that Fanny had passed near Wetherbury shortly before her death, and when she learned that Fanny had golden hair, and that Troy had told Liddy that he had been friends with her soldier sweetheart. Her suspicions deepened, and that is just where we pick up tonight. So, just lie back and relax, as I turn to the next pages, afar from the madding crowd. Chapter 42 Joseph and His Burden Buck's Head Speaker 2 (5:23) A wall bounded the site of Casterbridge Union House, except a longer portion of the end. Here, a gable stood, prominent, and it was covered like the front with a mat of ivy. In this gable was no window, chimney, ornament or protuberance of any kind. Speaker 2 (5:53) The single feature appertaining to it, beyond the expanse of dark leaves, was a small door. The situation of the door was peculiar. The sill was three or four feet above the ground, and for a moment one was at a loss for an explanation of this exceptional altitude. till ruts, immediately beneath, suggested that the door was used solely for the passage of articles and persons to and from the level of a vehicle standing on the outside. Upon the whole, the door seemed to advertise itself as a species of traitor's gate, translated to another sphere. Speaker 2 (6:53) That entry and exit hereby was only at rare intervals became apparent on noting that tufts of grass were allowed to flourish undisturbed in the chinks of the sill. Speaker 2 (7:13) As the clock over the South Street almshouse pointed to five minutes to three, a blue spring wagon, picked out with red and containing boughs and flowers, passed the end of the street and up towards this side of the building, whilst the chimes were yet stammering out a shattered form of molebrook. Joseph Porgras rang the bell and received directions to back his wagon against the high door under the gable. The door then opened and a plain elm coffin was slowly thrust forth and laid by two men in fustian along the middle of the vehicle. One of the men then stepped up beside it. took from his pocket a lump of chalk and wrote upon the cover the name and a few other words in a large, scrawling hand. We believe that they do these things more tenderly now and provide a plate. He covered the hole with a black cloth, threadbare but decent. The tailboard of the wagon was returned to its place. One of the men handed a certificate of registry to Paul Grass, and both entered the door, closing it behind them. Their connection with her, short as it had been, was over forever. Joseph then placed the flowers as enjoined, and the evergreens around the flowers, till it was difficult to divine what the wagon contained. He smacked his whip. and the rather pleasing funeral car crept down the hill and along the road to Weatherbury. The afternoon drew on apace, and looking to the right towards the sea as he walked beside the whores, Paul Grass saw strange clouds and scrolls of mist rolling over the long ridges which girt the landscape in that quarter. Speaker 2 (9:49) They came in yet greater volumes, and indolently crept across the intervening valleys and around the withered, papery flags of the moor and river brinks. Then their dank, spongy forms closed in upon the sky. It was a sudden overgrowth of atmospheric fungi which had their roots in the neighboring sea. And by the time that horse, man, and corpse entered Yolbury Great Wood, these silent workings of an invisible hand had reached them, and they were completely enveloped, this being the first arrival of the autumn fogs, and the first fog of the series. The air was as an eye suddenly struck blind. Speaker 2 (10:54) The wagon and its load rolled no longer on the horizontal division between clearness and opacity, but were embedded in an elastic body of a monotonous pallor throughout. There was no perceptible motion in the air. Not a visible drop of water fell upon a leaf of the beeches, birches and firs composing the wood on either side. The trees stood in an attitude of intentness, as if they waited longingly for a wind to come and rock them. Speaker 2 (11:40) A startling quiet overhung all surrounding things so completely that the crunching of the wagon wheels was as great a noise and small rustles, which had never obtained a hearing except by night,