The lecture of the priest continued longer than I had expected. It was maybe due to our sincere attitude towards him. What interested me most in his lecture was the story of the royal house of Zähringer, which originated in this area. People who had a royal connection with the Zähringers had scattered across Europe and finally built twelve cities in Europe through several rises and falls. Bern, the capital city of Switzerland, is one of the cities related to the Zähringers. You can see those cities on the front cover of the book in the picture below. St. Peter is also shown on the 9th line. Our sister city of Freiburg im Breisgau is also shown. The priest emphasized that St. Peter had been the center of Europe.
While listening to his story, I was thumbing through the book and found that St. Peter was exactly located at the center part of Europe. The Schwarzwald area is the source of the Rhein and Donaueschingen, which is said to be the source of the Donau. That is to say, , , If I could urinate on the hill that I saw in the distance, half of my urine would have flown to the North Sea and another half eventually to the Black Sea. Wow, I was on the top of Europe! When I told the priest such an idea, he laughed with a satisfactory expression.
(Vocabulary)
royal house 王家
rise and fall 盛衰
the Rhein ライン川
the Donau ドナウ川
urinate (フォーマル・専門) 排尿する, 小便をする
St. Peter Schwarzwaldの中に位置する村
Schwarzwald 《黒い森の意》ドイツ南西部の山地。長さ約160キロ、最高地点は1493メートルのフェルトベルク山。針葉樹の密林に覆われ、温泉・鉱泉が豊富。シュワルツワルト。
Donaueschingen ドイツ南西部、バーデン‐ビュルテンベルク州、シュバルツバルト山地の都市。「ドナウの泉」と呼ばれる湧水池があり、観光名所になっている。毎年10月に現代音楽を中心とするドナウエッシンゲン音楽祭が開催される。
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