Yaroslavsky Station

Yaroslavsky Station in Moscow looked, from the air, like a cake decorated by an enthusiast. Green and white turrets. Pointed roofs. Gold trim where you might not expect it. The architect, Fyodor Shekhtel, had designed it in 1902 in a style called Russian Revival, which mostly meant looking like an old Russian wooden church but built of stone and three times the size.

Stanica Jaroslavskij v Moskve vyzerala zhora ako torta, ktorú ozdobil nadšenec. Zelené a biele vežičky. Špicaté strechy. Zlaté ozdoby tam, kde by ste ich nečakali. Architekt, Fjodor Šechtel, ju navrhol v roku 1902 v štýle nazývanom Ruská obnova, čo väčšinou znamenalo vyzerať ako starý ruský drevený kostol, ale postavený z kameňa a trikrát väčší.

Polly came in low through the city haze. Moscow in June was warm and bright, the long evenings of a northern summer just beginning. She circled the station once and landed on the iron canopy over the main entrance.

Polly sa vzniesla nízko cez mestský opar. Moskva v júni bola teplá a jasná, dlhé večery severného leta sa práve začínali. Obletela stanicu raz a pristála na železnej markíze nad hlavným vchodom.

The Trans-Siberian Railway begins here. It runs east for 9,289 kilometres, the length of the entire Eurasian landmass, ending at Vladivostok on the Pacific. The line was completed in 1916. It is still the longest railway line in the world. The flagship train, the Rossiya, leaves Yaroslavsky Station every other day at one in the afternoon. It arrives in Vladivostok seven days, seven time zones, and one continent later.

Transsibírska železnica začína práve tu. Tiahne sa na východ 9 289 kilometrov, cez celú euroázijskú pevninu, končiac vo Vladivostoku pri Tichom oceáne. Trať bola dokončená v roku 1916. Stále je to najdlhšia železničná trať na svete. Vlajkový vlak, Rossija, odchádza zo stanice Jaroslavskij každý druhý deň o jednej popoludní. Do Vladivostoku dorazí o sedem dní, sedem časových pásiem a jeden kontinent neskôr.

Polly had a window seat. Or, more precisely, she had been promised a window berth in second class compartment 7, by a conductor who had taken one look at her glasses and her clipboard and decided, sensibly, that this was not his problem.

Polly mala miesto pri okne. Alebo, presnejšie, bola jej sľúbená posteľ pri okne v druhej triede, v kupé číslo 7, od sprievodcu, ktorý sa na ňu pozrel, videl jej okuliare a klipbord a rozumne sa rozhodol, že to nie je jeho problém.

Her compartment was a small wood-panelled room with two upper and two lower bunks, a small folding table between them, and a heavy curtained window. Two of the bunks were already taken. One belonged to a quiet, retired woman in a beige cardigan, reading. The other belonged to a young man in his twenties with a beard and a laptop, who looked up, saw Polly, said "OK," and went back to typing.

Jej kupé bolo malé drevom obložené miestnosť s dvoma hornými a dvoma dolnými lôžkami, malým skladacím stolíkom medzi nimi a ťažkým závesom na okne. Dve z lôžok už boli obsadené. Jedno patrilo tichej, dôchodkyni v béžovom svetri, ktorá čítala. Druhé patrilo mladému mužovi v dvadsiatke s bradou a notebookom, ktorý zdvihol zrak, uvidel Polly, povedal „OK“ a vrátil sa k písaniu.

Polly hopped onto the table and looked out the window. The platform was full of motion. A family was hugging a son goodbye. A conductor was checking a clipboard in green ink. A samovar in the corner of the carriage hissed quietly.

Polly vyskočila na stôl a pozrela sa von oknom. Nástupište bolo plné pohybu. Rodina sa lúčila so synom. Sprievodca kontroloval klipbord zeleným atramentom. Samovar v rohu vozňa ticho syčal.

At exactly one o'clock, the train moved.

Presne o jednej sa vlak pohol.

It did not feel like a beginning. It felt like the conclusion of something that had been arranging itself for many years. The wheels found their rhythm in the first two minutes and held it. The platform slid away. The station became a shape against the sky. Then it was gone.

Necítilo sa to ako začiatok. Skôr ako záver niečoho, čo sa usporadúvalo mnoho rokov. Kolesá našli svoj rytmus v prvých dvoch minútach a držali ho. Nástupište sa posunulo preč. Stanica sa stala tvarom proti oblohe. Potom zmizla.

Within half an hour, Moscow had thinned to suburbs. Within an hour, the suburbs had thinned to dachas, small wooden summer houses with neat gardens. Within two hours, the dachas had thinned to forest. Polly looked at her glasses in the reflection of the window and tilted them straight against her beak.

Do pol hodiny sa Moskva zmenšila na predmestia. Do hodiny sa predmestia zmenšili na dače, malé drevené letné domy s upravenými záhradkami. Do dvoch hodín sa dače zmenšili na les. Polly sa pozrela na svoje okuliare v odraze okna a narovnala ich na svojom zobáku.

The quiet woman in the beige cardigan looked up from her book. "First time?" she said in careful English. Polly tilted her red head. The woman smiled. "It is a long way. Settle in."

Tichá žena v béžovom svetri zdvihla zrak od knihy. „Prvýkrát?“ povedala opatrnou angličtinou. Polly naklonila svoju červenú hlavu. Žena sa usmiala. „Je to dlhá cesta. Urobte si pohodlie.“