{"product_id":"2940014607735","title":"THE WILLOWS","description":"I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest, the Danube\u003cbr\u003eenters a region of singular loneliness and desolation, where its waters\u003cbr\u003espread away on all sides regardless of a main channel, and the country\u003cbr\u003ebecomes a swamp for miles upon miles, covered by a vast sea of low\u003cbr\u003ewillow-bushes. On the big maps this deserted area is painted in a fluffy\u003cbr\u003eblue, growing fainter in color as it leaves the banks, and across it may be\u003cbr\u003eseen in large straggling letters the word Sumpfe, meaning marshes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn high flood this great acreage of sand, shingle-beds, and willow-grown\u003cbr\u003eislands is almost topped by the water, but in normal seasons the bushes\u003cbr\u003ebend and rustle in the free winds, showing their silver leaves to the\u003cbr\u003esunshine in an ever-moving plain of bewildering beauty. These willows never\u003cbr\u003eattain to the dignity of trees; they have no rigid trunks; they remain\u003cbr\u003ehumble bushes, with rounded tops and soft outline, swaying on slender stems\u003cbr\u003ethat answer to the least pressure of the wind; supple as grasses, and so\u003cbr\u003econtinually shifting that they somehow give the impression that the entire\u003cbr\u003eplain is moving and alive. For the wind sends waves rising and falling over\u003cbr\u003ethe whole surface, waves of leaves instead of waves of water, green swells\u003cbr\u003elike the sea, too, until the branches turn and lift, and then silvery white\u003cbr\u003eas their underside turns to the sun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHappy to slip beyond the control of the stern banks, the Danube here\u003cbr\u003ewanders about at will among the intricate network of channels intersecting\u003cbr\u003ethe islands everywhere with broad avenues down which the waters pour with a\u003cbr\u003eshouting sound; making whirlpools, eddies, and foaming rapids; tearing at\u003cbr\u003ethe sandy banks; carrying away masses of shore and willow-clumps; and\u003cbr\u003eforming new islands innumerably which shift daily in size and shape and\u003cbr\u003epossess at best an impermanent life, since the flood-time obliterates their\u003cbr\u003every existence.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070723211504,"sku":"2940014607735","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014607735","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}