Final Thoughts: The Water Is So Wide
(TWISW Supplement #5)
EPILOGUE
The final third of the trio of Mark Knopfler songs that served as inspiration for The Water Is So Wide: Hill Farmer’s Blues. My stories usually start with a song, and in this case, it is this one. My mental soundtrack for the chapter, Emily’s Bell.
The Water Is So Wide is a work of fiction, and references to historical events, people, or places are used fictitiously. Such is the case with the Lipik Lipizzaners. While it is true that the herd was stolen at the end of 1991, the horses weren’t returned to Croatia until 2007, after years of negotiations.
Quoting from the lipikoccultodevotio YouTube channel description:
"After 16 long years, Lipik's horses, of lipizzian [sic] breed, Croatian national treasure, were brought back to their home made stables of the Ergela Lipik, where they were taken from and stolen at the end of 1991, at the beginning of the attack on Lipik. After several years of negotiations and attempts for horses to be returned to Lipik, on the October 12th, 2007, the horses went from Novi Sad to Croatia. Saturday, October 13th, around two o'clock in the morning, the convoy of five trucks with 66 horses arrived to Donji Čaglić, a little village near the entrance of Lipik. The convoy of hope with Lipik's horses was comming [sic] back the same road they were taken away in 1991 . . ." Chapter 21. Auditoriums of the Adopted Bourgeoisie
Foretasting when I’ll fold
Time like a rough draft . . .
A flash of the eye, the last,
And the world’s not a moment old . . .
This stanza was taken from: “The Ratcatcher. A Lyrical Satire.” Excerpts from Translations of Works by Marina Tsveraeva, Angela Livingstone. Northwestern University Press, 2000.
Finally, thanks to all who inspired The Water Is So Wide. I will leave the last words on the persistence of love and art to the Apsara Dancers:
And when we dance, we complete the link between heaven and earth; and when we dance, we conjure the spirit of those who were taken from us; and every time we dance, we defeat Pol Pot once again.
Top Image: Torn out of Vogue. Source: Vogue, August 1980. p. 123.
There is something about this live version of Hill Farmer's Blues that is particularly magical. Makes sense that it was an inspiration for you.