You could certainly read my story as a take on that – but as usual, it would not be an intentional one. Every writer’s supposed to have a story or two tucked away in their bottom desk drawer that they periodically return to: this is one of mine. There’s probably not a single word of this story that can be traced directly back to the original, having been reworked intensively over the years, and I’m not sure the original through-line of the story (whatever it was) didn’t get buried along the way.

Judging by the fact that I’m the only commenter on this story (and I’ve posted twice, at that!) I might be right to be dubious. Maybe with writing, as with so many other things, you can never really go back.

A 400-tonne rock fell from the cliffs overhanging the town on Monday, crushing several cars and damaging houses, although no-one was hurt, town council officials said.

Military and civilian aircraft have been banned from flying over the town, wedged between the cliffs and the Meuse river in southern Belgium, and heavy lorries have been diverted.

The slightest vibration could bring the 30-metre (100-foot) high rock down, the local tourist office said.

The fire brigade said 25 people had been evacuated from their homes, which risk being crushed by the rock, and several shops have been forced to close.

A spokesman said there were two solutions — to try to fix the rock to the cliff or deliberately dislodge it.

“This is a very risky situation…there are still some thousand tonnes to fall and we don’t know what may come behind,” he said.

The last major fall on Dinant, the home town of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, killed 36 people in 1227 and demolished the church. REUTER [nPF1901546]