Laughing Above the Coffin — As I Lay Dying

I told him not to bring that horse out of respect for his dead ma, Anse says, because it wouldn't look right, him prancing on a durn circus animal when she wanted us all in the wagon that sprung from her flesh and blood. They had no more than passed Tull's lane when Darl begun to laugh, setting back there on the plank seat with Cash, his dead ma lying in her coffin at his feet, laughing.

Anse says when you fix it so folks can talk, it's a reflection on your ma, not me. I am a man and I can stand it; it's on your womenfolks, your ma and sister that you should care for. I don't expect you to have no respect for me, he says, but with your own ma not cold in her coffin yet. He turns and looks back at Darl setting there laughing while the sermon builds.

Yonder, Cash says, jerking his head toward the lane. The horse is still a right smart piece away, coming up at a good pace, but Anse don't have to be told who it is. He just looked back at Darl, setting there laughing. I done my best, Anse says. I tried to do as she would wish it. The Lord will pardon me and excuse the conduct of them He sent me. Who gets the shame when the loudest mourner keeps staring at the laugh instead of the horse coming up the lane?