Trafika Europe 6 - Arabesque

per højholt

sharply divided: English on the islands or having gone astray in western Sweden; the German and French, together with other tenacious and intrepid flocks, further south: in Jutland. Many of these latter flocks, especially the ones from France, were made fate’s fools to an almost tragic extent, since if they had gone south rather than north they could have easily reached Spain, which was also neutral during the war. Of course, they would have been subjected to a climate that was less rainy than they preferred, but in return they would have discovered in the Spanish towns and countryside much deeper shadows, a much more refreshing darkness in the cathedral lofts and remote rural barns. Such enticements were appreciated by the local

ears and by those who had managed to make their way through the south German, French and Italian uproar, and who with a grimace had crossed the Pyrenees before the night mists were completely driven from their southward facing slopes. Thanks to the ears’ fraught relationship with sunshine a n d Me d i t e r r a n e a n temperatures, there are not many accounts of Spain’s east coast ears. What exists are mostly rumors stemming from a national Spanish self- assertiveness drive, though in one case the rumor could actually be verified. Seven ears, who under almost diabolical and overwhelmingly difficult circumstances mimed three watercolors by Paul Cézanne, which they had imprinted on themselves at a dentist’s office in Perpignan,

254