They were associated with the devil; in John Milton's Paradise Lost, Satan was depicted as a toad pouring poison into Eve's ear.
She was referred to in a new book published last week – Van Gogh's Ear: The True Story.
The 21st-century art historians Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans, however, examined contemporary police records and the artists' correspondence and concluded, in Van Gogh's Ohr: Paul Gaugin und der Pakt des Schweigens (2008; "Van Gogh's Ear: Paul Gauguin and the Pact of Silence"), that it was actually Gauguin who mutilated van Gogh's ear and that he did so with a sword.
The "now'" and the "actually", the absorbed ordinariness, the vagueness of "they" and the precision of "eight months, until the end of this year": Ishiguro's ear is acute, and these are the verbal mannerisms of the public services sector in the humdrum modern world.
Imagine, today's domineering, ear-splitting, flashing bands jetting their fans into frenzied, uproarious, sweaty reactions with the sounds drowning out the lyrics.
So, as the Springboks made themselves comfortable in England's regular team hotel in Richmond yesterday, Clive Woodward's ears must have been burning.
Larry, who has held his post since February 2011, injured Palmerston's ear during one encounter.
Earlier this year Van Gogh's ear made global headlines after a researcher found proof that – contrary to some suggestions – he cut off his entire left ear in Arles on 23 December 1888, not just the lobe.
Heilemann points out that over the last six months, President Obama's ear has been owned by White House Chief of Staff, Rham Emmanual, and White House political maven, David Axelrod.
