Trafika Europe 6 - Arabesque

auricula

of women who gave birth in the first half of June the following year, which was also a leap year, not only gave birth to a child but also to an ear (outer). The ear was of natural size and characterized to a normal extent by the parents. The only visible difference was that where the ear would typically be connected via a cranium’s bone and cartilage structure was a fused scar, a fold whose insignificance brought to mi nd a hermaphrodite’s genitalia. If the ear had come equipped with, say, the human being’s complicated inner workings, it would have had to learn to play the hermit crab and find an object fit to contain its half-shape. Most ears simply slipped away during the usual hullabaloo following a child’s birth, while others liberated themselves by clinging to the

afterbirth.Wastemanagement r e l u c t an t l y men t i on s scattered colonies in the sewers. One can certainly surmise that some ears were not able to slip away when the chance presented, and so had to escape with a later birth or simply stay put. Since the ear is only capable of self- hearing, however, there is no disadvantage to its remaining put, either for the mother or the ear. In Seem near Ribe, according to a report given by the local midwife to the district medical officer, it so happened that immediately after the birth, as the ear in question was trying to sneak away, it was mistaken for the ful ly developed chi ld’s unevolved twin, stalled by some fatal process or other. Later, over coffee and in consultation with the parents, it was concluded that at most

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