Toranj između dvaju mora

Kad se vratila u grad, Polly je stala u podnožje zvonika pokraj velike crkve svetog Jurja na brežuljku. Zvonik nije spojen s crkvom. Stoji sam, četvrtasti kameni stup kojemu se na vrhu otvaraju lukovi zvonika, a nad njima se diže šiljasti krov. Sagrađen je prije više od četiristo godina kao manja kopija slavnog zvonika svetog Marka u Veneciji. Izvornik se srušio prije više od sto godina i ponovno je sagrađen, pa je kopija u Piranu danas starija od tornja koji oponaša.

Back in town, Polly stood at the foot of the bell tower beside the great church of Saint George on the hill. It is not attached to the church. It stands alone, a square shaft of stone with a belfry of arches and a pointed spire, built more than four hundred years ago as a smaller copy of the famous bell tower of Saint Mark in Venice. The original collapsed more than a hundred years ago and was rebuilt, so the copy in Piran is now older than the tower it copies.

Unutra se sto četrdeset i šest drvenih stuba vije kroz prašnjavo svjetlo. Polly je skakutala po njima, jednu po jednu, pokraj užadi i greda, sve dok joj velika zvona nisu visjela nad glavom, svako dovoljno veliko da se u njemu okupa. Ovdje gore vjetar je dolazio ravno s mora i mirisao je, nepogrešivo, na sol.

Inside, one hundred and forty-six wooden steps wind up through the dusty light. Polly hopped them one at a time, past the ropes and the beams, until the great bells hung over her head, each one big enough to bathe in. Up here the wind came straight off the sea and smelled, unmistakably, of salt.

Cijeli grad ležao je pod njom. Narančasti krovovi kotrljali su se niz brežuljak do vode s obje strane poluotoka, a dolje je bijeli oval trga sjao na suncu kao mali mjesec koji se spustio da se odmori. Brodovi su crtali bijele crte preko luke. S jedne strane tornja nije bilo ničega osim plavetnila, otvorenog Jadrana koji se pruža prema Italiji.

The whole town lay beneath her. Orange roofs tumbled down the hill to the water on both sides of the peninsula, and at the bottom the white oval of the square glowed in the sun like a small moon that had come down to rest. Boats drew white lines across the harbour. On one side of the tower there was nothing but blue, the open Adriatic going on toward Italy.

Polly se okrenula na drugu stranu. Daleko na jugu, iza zavoja uvale, obala se spuštala u ravnicu, a na kopnu je ležao blijedi bijeli odsjaj ondje gdje su soline hvatale poslijepodnevno svjetlo. S jedne strane voda, s druge sol, a mali grad u ravnoteži na svojoj stijeni između njih, izrastao iz jednoga, a plaćen drugim. Galeb joj je rekao istinu.

Polly turned to the other side. Far away to the south, past the curve of the bay, the coast flattened and a faint white shimmer lay on the land where the salt pans caught the afternoon light. Water on one hand, salt on the other, and the little town balanced on its rock between them, built from one and paid for by the other. The gull had told her the truth.