Chapter VIII
Between the StreamsThe “Living Stream” takes an unexpected turning on the outskirts of D… They had given it that name because it was a torrent of water that gushed out over the hills as if skipping down a staircase instead of following its course to the Danube, escaping for a twenty kilometre jaunt beside the town. Nothing could stand in its way. But just before the forest ends and the first street begins, it seems to slacken, spreading out into a dull white foam, its banks turning shallow. Winding around a bend, the “Living Stream” stops almost completely, hesitating: with palpable lethargy, it stretches out into a leaden arm that drags itself between the willows. They call this the “Dead Stream”. This branch of the stream trudges along tortuously in an arc for a few more ki
