252 292
252
per højholt
one was dealing with a form
of involuntary parody on the
ear’s part and so they let it go.
I n
Co l ogne
ano the r
complicated birth also took
place during the period in
question, but the exact
circumstances could not be
pinned down, this due to the
misfor tune the archives
suffered during World War II.
In almost the exact same
contex t, i t should be
ment i oned that any
assumptions that the 1915
silence was in some way
compelled by the world war
of 1914-18, or was the
unset tl ing, i f thought-
provoking result of pacifist
efforts cannot be evidentially
proven. Of course, the ears
could not help but be affected
by the fact that a world war
was playing itself out on the
European stage where in the
course of a couple of weeks
in 1915 they suddenly
appeared by the thousands.
Since they could only hear
themselves, however, the
war’s tumult only bothered
them to the extent that it
precluded them in this
endeavor, so after themajority
had listened in vain for weeks
or months, they set out to
find locales where they could
give themselves over to this
particular pursuit with greater
success. On these journeys
they met other ears who had
taken flight for the same
reason and they immediately
banded together, so that by
the time 1916 drew to a close
small ear flocks all over Europe
were headed for the neutral
countries. It cannot be denied
that during that winter many
ears perished upon battling
Europe’s promontories or
were crushed on rocks in
narrow channels or surprised