Judgment of the Flying Head

I know what you're wondering... did THE LOST STEPS by Alejo Carpentier have an owl in it? Let's look at the facts! No need getting emotional about it! Toward the end of the book we have "the flying heads with wings for ears of the Tierra del Fuego." Now! Could this possibly be the chonchón mentioned in THE OBSCENE BIRD OF NIGHT? You bet your ass it could! And, as I am sure you will recall, the translator of the latter work referred to the chonchón in a note as an "owllike creature." This is where things become complicated. For you see, the translator of THE LOST STEPS does not mention the flying heads at all. No, he is one of those "What is translation, anyway?" type guys, and he spends his entire translator's note wondering what translation is anyway. He can't figure it out! You know, one of those guys. This being the case, we cannot claim in any sense that "the flying heads with wings for ears of Tierra del Fuego" are perceived as "owllike" by either author or translator of THE LOST STEPS. It is therefore the decision of this court that THE LOST STEPS by Alejo Carpentier does not have an owl in it.