The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes Page #3

that under no account

were you to let the echoes slip

behind the vibrating plates.

And that you should

remove your thumb first.

And that you'd know

what he meant by that.

Was that singing I heard last night?

Maybe it was your teeth,

Mr. Fernandez.

Or maybe I was dreaming.

Well...

it was certainly beautiful.

Malvina!

Malvina.

Malvina!

There is a voice.

I saw her last night.

- Who is she?

- Oh, you mean the Emperor's Canary.

Madame van Stille. The singer.

- Do you know her?

- No.

Hmm. Well...

The Doctor says

she has had a severe trauma

and needs complete calm

and seclusion.

For my part, all I know

is that the Doctor is helping her

to readapt to the stage.

Forgive me, but how do you believe

he goes about such a thing?

- The Doctor's method for her?

- Hmm.

This I don't know.

But he does have an expert knowledge

of the electricity in women.

And, er... does this include you?

For me, the Doctor's passions

are like the rays of the sun

when they are caught

in a magnifying glass

and they immediately set fire

to whatever object

they find in their way.

And you? Did you catch fire?

Oh, yes.

But then the fire

eventually burns itself out and...

and you just learn how to smolder.

So, erm, no need for

the fire brigade, huh, Mr. Fernandez?

Enough. I should leave you...

with the Doctor's toys.

Doctor!

'I went looking for the Doctor

and found

his mysterious patient instead.'

Madame.

Madame? Madame?

Adolfo?

I'm sorry.

Madame, I didn't mean to disturb you.

It's me, Felisberto, the piano tuner.

It's beautiful here.

I wanted to tell you about myself.

I come from over there.

I must leave now.

Goodbye.

Doctor.

Good morning. This part.

No rats get in, only... rust.

Have you ever heard of

Megaloponera foetens, Mr. Felisberto?

It's an ant that lives

in the Cameroonian rainforests.

A forager of the forest floor, which

from time to time becomes infected

through inhaling

the microscopic spore of a fungus

that rains down from the trees above

and lodges in its tiny brain...

where it starts to grow.

Troubled and disoriented, this ant

is driven to leave the forest floor

and starts to climb up

the stems of ferns and creepers

till it reaches some seemingly

pre-determined height.

At which point, it clamps

its mandibles onto the plant

and waits there...

...until it dies.

As for the fungus, it lives on,

eating the dead creature's brain

and infiltrating

its entire nervous system.

Until at length,

some few weeks later,

it excretes a sort of spike through

the remains of the insect's head.

And this rampant prong

teems with spores,

which, in their turn, shed themselves

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