Page:Karl Gjellerup - Minna, A novel - 1913.djvu/27



I had my wish, a monument to the obloquy of the man who gave this part of the country the name of "Saxon-Switzerland" would be erected in a most prominent spot. Visitors now come here, either with a remembrance of Switzerland, or with a fantastic delusion as to size; comparing, disapproving, and saying, with a sneer, that they had seen or imagined something much grander—a treatment for which the poor little country has never asked.

But if one comes without expectations, and accepts the country as it is, especially not trying to do it in tourist fashion, but quietly settling down to live and enjoy—what richness of beautiful nature does it not offer you, and how filled it is with striking contrasts, which are harmonised in its own idyllic, rustic way! Barrenness and prolific growth, wild ruggedness and cultivated land are lying side by side, or one above another; from bright burning heat one suddenly plunges into cool, humid shade. Where do the lungs expand in a fresher and more exhilarating air than in that which sweeps over these heights, and fills the woods and rocky valleys?

Rightly to understand the peculiar nature of this country, a study must be made of it in order to discover that it is not a mountainous district, but a plateau which, by the action of floods, has been rent, hewn, and washed out, revealing the stone, sometimes as sides of the fissures and 19