In midias reeds

• in medias res: (Latin: into the meddle of things) beginning in the middle of its storyline
• reed → ver grose O arundo
• Midas: king of Phrygia. Aside from the story of teh golden touch, he voted against Apollo in a music contest. Apollo would not suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and said,"Must have ears of an ass!"and caused them to become the ears of a donkey. Midas was mortified at this mishap. He attempted to hide his misfortune under an ample turban or headdress, but his barber of course knew the secret, so was told not to mention it. However, the barber could not keep the secret; he went out into the meadow, dug a hole in the ground, whispered the story into it, then covered the hole up. A thick bed of reeds later sprang up in the meadow, and began whispering the story, saying "King Midas has an ass's ears"