Andrzej Stasiuk on the Danube as European river

The magazine prints a piece of writing by Polish writer Andrzej Stasiuk about the Danube. "The Danube flows against time. She rolls the waters of the present into the past, the immediate into the timeless. She is as long as she is old. Living in her delta are ancient catfish and flocks of pelicans that look like flying reptiles. There you find mud from the farthest reaches of Europe. Huge cows and pigs graze undisturbed in the Murighiol harbour. At dusk they retreat into the reeds... The Danube is a flow of reflections, a watery meditation that brings together unforgiving things. The river begins in a free democracy that cherishes prosperity and peace. After a while it reaches an area where only recently the bloodiest battles were fought, where vengeance and shameless poverty haunt the broad daylight. The Danube is so varied – it's the most European of all rivers."

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