Trafika Europe 6 - Arabesque

per højholt

shake or rupture entirely, and concentrate instead on natural ones, primarily rivers, from Switzerland and on up north, primarily the Rhine, these troubled waters emphatically take us into Dutch precincts which, pursuant to that country’s obstinate neutrality and the landscape’s lack of massifs, afford a sumptuous and easily accessible hunting ground, the sight of which, however, probably caused the fleeing ears to regard their hard- won peace and freedom as a capitulation. Nonetheless: The sound of water calmly slipping through the canals; the solemnly overbearing barges’ broad-bottomed sedateness beneath the light, scallop- shaped clouds undoubtedly gave the ears the feeling that all this was not completely undeserved considering all they had experienced of

its attendant circumstances in mind, one might expect like groupings in similar locales, for example, in the outermost regions of Italy and Greece. Given how wild and desolate these mountainous areas are, the fact that no such groups have been found does not mean that they do not exist, simply that there are plenty of places for such theoretical ears to stay hidden. Unfortunately, this is also the case with mountainous Switzerland, whose neutrality in World War No. 1 would lead one to suspect an ear presence, but where only small flocks have yet been glimpsed. However, if one knows where in nature to look, for instance, around watermills and in labyrinthine quarries, new discoveries are always possible. If we discount those borders which wars occasionally

264