259
auricula
the second the poor graying
soldiers began their giggling
description of the ears’
scandalous sexual practices
every single Englishman
immediately lifted his pen.
This much is known, however,
that it is especially on the
promontory’s wild, desolate
eastern slope that the ears
subsist. It is from there that
theearsundertakeexpeditions
to renew their mimes. On
these steep slopes, furrowed
by rugged ravines, the ears
live in symbiotic relationship
with Europe’s only species of
primate, Macacus inuus, with
whom they not only share a
unique status, but also the
rich growth of dwarf palms
which develop particularly
will here thanks to the
limestone in the sparse
topsoil. Whether or not the
macaques, which are actually
indigenous to north Africa,
were wild or imported is
unknown. In the previous
century the population
dwindled to three individuals,
a situation subsequently
remedied by English officers
who had several specimens
brought over from Africa, and
now they again live in flocks,
though ut ter l y feral ,
perpetually seeking the lee
side of this gigantic cliff. In
color the monkeys are
yellowish gray with a flesh-
toned face, they entirely lack
tails, but like their conspecifics
in Japan and Tibet they do
have seat cushions. Extinct
specimens have been found,
for example, in France and
Italy, and even more recently
a partial jawbone found in
Essex proves that the
macaques managed to survive
in England. The focus of the
ears’ symbiosis with this
remarkable, though little
remarked upon creature,
however, is a small theater