Grotesque

by Natsuo Kirino

For the event at the courthouse I borrowed a book on physiognomy and took it with me. I planned to study Zhang’s features. A round face indicates a carnal personality: someone who is easily contented, does not fuss over details, but is indecisive and promptly loses interest in things. An angular face indicates someone who has a calculating personality, is physically robust, hates to lose, and possesses a stubbornness that makes it difficult to get along with others. On the other hand, those with triangular faces are delicate and sensitive; they are physically fragile and tend to be artistic. These categories are then further divided into three positions—upper, middle, and lower—starting from the top of the face and working toward the sides. By reading these various positions, you can determine someone’s fortune. For example, I suppose I would conform to the “sensitive personality.” I am physically delicate, drawn to beauty, and fit the artistic type. But the part about not being sociable is me in a nutshell.