Grad na samom rubu

Vjetar stiže prije kopna. Polly jaše na njemu prema jugu uz obalu Korzike, sve dok otok jednostavno ne prestane, i tada je pred njom otvoreno more, a iza mora još jedan otok koji leži nisko i plavo na obzoru. To je Sardinija. Prolaz između njih zove se Bonifacijev tjesnac, a vjetar kroz njega navire poput vode kroz ustavu.

The wind arrives before the land does. Polly rides it south along the coast of Corsica until the island simply stops, and there in front of her is open water, and beyond the water another island lying low and blue on the horizon. That is Sardinia. The channel between them is called the Strait of Bonifacio, and the wind pours through it like water through a gate.

Okrene se natrag prema litici i ugleda grad. Sjedi na bijelom vapnencu, točno na samom rubu, a kuće su visoke i uske, zbijene jedna uz drugu, krem i blijedo okerne boje, zatvorenih škura pred popodnevnim svjetlom. Ono što je zaustavi u zraku jest dno zidova. Nema nikakvog razmaka. Kamen kuća prelazi ravno u kamen litice, a litica pada otprilike sedamdeset metara do mora. Ovaj grad ne stoji blizu ruba. Stoji na njemu.

She turns back toward the cliff and sees the town. It sits on white limestone, right at the lip, and the houses are tall and narrow and pressed together, cream and pale ochre, their shutters closed against the afternoon light. What makes her stop in the air is the bottom of the walls. There is no gap. The stone of the houses runs straight into the stone of the cliff, and the cliff drops about seventy meters to the sea. This town does not stand near the edge. It stands on it.

Polly sleti na bedem i pogleda preko. Ispod nje stijena je blijeda i suha, izbrušena solju, a galebovi kruže u prostoru između zida i vode. Tada primijeti nešto što ne pripada ovamo. U stijenu litice usječen je uzak žlijeb koji se strmo spušta, a u tom žlijebu nalaze se stube.

Polly lands on a rampart and looks over. Below her the rock is pale and dry and scoured by salt, and gulls turn in the space between the wall and the water. Then she notices something that does not belong. A narrow groove has been cut into the cliff face, running down at a steep angle, and inside that groove there are steps.

Pokušava ih prebrojiti prije nego što nestane svjetla, pa odustane. Stuba ima više nego što ih može vidjeti, a završavaju negdje dolje u sjeni. More i dalje polako šumi o stijenu. Polly odlučuje da će sići onamo dolje.

She tries to count them before the light goes, and gives up. There are more steps than she can see, and they end somewhere below in shadow. The sea keeps up its slow noise against the rock. Polly decides that she is going down there.