Summary

Claudia speaks of her body as a record of time. The birth of her child, the car accident she was in, and the loss of her appendix all would be revealed by an autopsy, she says. In addition to her own personal history, her body records a story on a different time scale; in the structure of her body lies also the story of human evolution and the relationship of human beings to every other creature. Claudia continues her reflections on the bodily, saying the fact that she is an attractive woman has conditioned her life in particular ways. From here, the narrative moves to the London Zoo for Lisa’s eighth birthday.

Claudia and Jasper take Lisa to the zoo for her birthday and there, Lisa asks what is happening between two monkeys copulating. Jasper tries to avoid the question, but Claudia explains quite clearly...