In the beginning, the Danube was so clean that the water could be drunk. In my childhood, my grandfather made me a rod from ash wood and used brnjice – which were put in pigs’ snouts to stop them from rooting – as guides, and ordinary string, and I fished with that. It was enough for the whole family to have lunch, even as a kid, six or seven years old. There really was plenty of fish. Now there are fewer and fewer fish, unfortunately, probably due to pollution. But the Danube is such a powerful river, I watch it every day – it swallows the rubbish that’s thrown in and cleans everything; I think it’s stronger than man. Man tries to tame the Danube, but I think it’s an impossible mission.