Trafika Europe 14 - Italian Piazza

The Animal Gazer

and groups of fami l ies leaving their homes with bundles on their backs, bundles into which they had crammed their most prized possessions as best they could. As soon as the darkness came, with shaky legs and heavy feet, Rembrandt headed toward his studio on Begi jnenvest, where he threw himsel f on his bed, exhausted, and fel l asleep. ONE MORNING, TOWARD the beginning of September, before the indi fferent stares of the two chasseurs ( it seemed that no one had bothered to rel ieve them) , Bugatti mustered the strength to cross the threshold of the zoo, and to enter, not without some hesitation, the great boulevard that led, after a sl ight swerve to the left, to the front of the Feestpaleis. The spectacle that appeared before his eyes was not what he had expected. Rather than desolation and si lence he found an ample movement of people coming and going, a frenzy of activity. A frenzy that may have been heartrending but was sti l l a frenzy nevertheless. The wide terrace balcony, the restaurant, the café, the bi l l iards room, the winter garden of the Feestpaleis, and especial ly the sumptuous atrium with its marble f loors and shiny chandel iers by which one entered the concert hal l had been converted into a makeshi ft hospital for the wounded. Badly

21