253
auricula
by tidal waters on remote
sand banks. But after this
bewildering winter the ears
followed the sun north,
continually seen upon and
pursued along the coasts by
countless migratory birds
which, after they had gorged
themselves, continued their
migration, thereby showing
any surviving ears the way.
Unaware of the fact, these
small flocks, which oftentimes
were not so small at that,
crossed the Danish border via
the underside of bridges
spanning the Kongeå. Of those
who ventured the farthest
south, many were lucky
enough to cross into
Switzerland where in order to
survive in the mountainous
regions they had to develop
inferior traits. During the
summer of 1917, anxiety
among the English ears had
become so great that a
solution needed. Under cover
of the comprehensive military
maneuvers taking place on
the east coast, the ears
converged on the tiniest of
ports and, with the wind
blowing from landward, they
manned by nightfall one or
two small dinghies and set out
to sea, having memorized
where the sun went down.
With this terrified traffic the
old Viking routes between
England and Denmark were
once again plied, and that is
the reason that most of the
ears on Zealand and the other
Danish isles, as well as the
ears along Sweden’s west
coast, are English. The
Ju t l and i c
ea r s
wer e
overwhelmingly German and
French and were unable to
force the straits. Though
Denmark is, accordingly, the
place of exile for most of
Europe’s ears, the groups are