The Birch Forests

On the second morning, the train was already 400 kilometres east of Moscow.

Pada pagi kedua, kereta sudah berada 400 kilometer di timur Moskow.

Polly woke on the small table. The light was soft and grey. Galina, the older woman, was drinking tea from a glass with a metal holder.

Polly terbangun di meja kecil. Cahaya lembut dan abu-abu. Galina, wanita yang lebih tua, sedang minum teh dari gelas dengan pegangan logam.

"Birches," she said.

"Birch," katanya.

Outside, white trees were rushing past at sixty kilometres per hour. They went on and on. They filled the whole landscape.

Di luar, pohon-pohon putih melaju cepat dengan kecepatan enam puluh kilometer per jam. Mereka terus berlanjut. Mereka memenuhi seluruh pemandangan.

This is the Russian birch belt. White birch grows in many cold places where other trees cannot.

Ini adalah sabuk birch Rusia. Pohon birch putih tumbuh di banyak tempat dingin di mana pohon lain tidak bisa.

The young man, Pavel, looked up. "You are the parrot," he said. He went back to his laptop.

Pemuda itu, Pavel, melihat ke atas. "Kamu seperti burung beo," katanya. Dia kembali ke laptopnya.

Galina poured tea for Polly. It was amber. A slice of lemon floated on top. The samovar had been hot for twelve hours.

Galina menuangkan teh untuk Polly. Warnanya kuning keemasan. Sepotong lemon mengapung di atasnya. Samovar sudah panas selama dua belas jam.

Polly drank a sip. It was hot and sweet.

Polly menyesap sedikit. Rasanya panas dan manis.

"The longest part of this trip is the trees," Galina said. "You sit in a train for six days and look at trees. There is no end to them."

"Bagian terpanjang dari perjalanan ini adalah pohon-pohon," kata Galina. "Kamu duduk di kereta selama enam hari dan melihat pohon-pohon. Tidak ada habisnya."

Forty percent of Russia is forest. Russia has twenty percent of all the trees in the world.

Empat puluh persen dari Rusia adalah hutan. Rusia memiliki dua puluh persen dari semua pohon di dunia.

Polly drank again. Pavel typed. Galina read her book. Outside, the birches kept passing.

Polly minum lagi. Pavel mengetik. Galina membaca bukunya. Di luar, pohon-pohon birch terus berlalu.