Summary

The narration shifts focus back to the past, and to present-tense, third-person narration. It describes the taxidermy shop to which Ostlet’s aardvark was sent, and where it was stuffed by Titus Downing, “one of England’s premier taxidermists” (16). The narration describes, in significant detail, Downing’s relationship with his work, the language of that description including terms suggesting holiness and referencing how, for him, taxidermy is about bringing animals back to life, and recreating that life, that spirit, by knowing the animal’s behavior. The term used here is a Hindu term, “jiva” (20). There is also a description of how Downing’s small workspace is filled with the smell of rosemary and camphor. As Downing works intently but patiently on a large tiger, he is interrupted by the arrival of Ostlet’s aardvark, “a creature the likes of which no-one … has ever...