two monkeys of brueghel [wislawa szymborska]

I keep dreaming of my graduation exam:

in a window sit two chained monkeys,

beyond the window floats the sky,

and the sea splashes.

I am taking an exam on the history of mankind:

I stammer and flounder.

One monkey, eyes fixed upon me, listens ironically,

the other seems to be dozing –

and when silence follows a question,

he prompts me

with a soft jingling of the chain.

Wislawa Szymborska

[ ? ]