Lake Baikal

Polly woke on the fifth morning. The world had become water.

Polly se probudila petog jutra. Svijet je postao voda.

The train was running along Lake Baikal. The lake filled the whole window. The water was a deep, perfect blue.

Vlak je vozio uz jezero Bajkal. Jezero je ispunjavalo cijeli prozor. Voda je bila duboka, savršena plava.

Igor, the fisherman, was at the window with a notebook.

Igor, ribar, stajao je uz prozor s bilježnicom.

"Baikal," he said. "It is the deepest lake in the world. 1,642 metres deep. It is also the oldest lake. 25 million years old."

"Bajkal," rekao je. "To je najdublje jezero na svijetu. Duboko je 1.642 metra. Također je i najstarije jezero. Star je 25 milijuna godina."

The water was so clear that Polly could see rocks on the lake floor in the shallow places.

Voda je bila toliko bistra da je Polly mogla vidjeti kamenje na dnu jezera na plitkim mjestima.

"It holds 23 percent of all the fresh water on Earth that is not frozen," Igor said. "More than all the Great Lakes in North America together."

"Sadrži 23 posto sve slatke vode na Zemlji koja nije smrznuta," rekao je Igor. "Više nego sva Velika jezera u Sjevernoj Americi zajedno."

The train stopped at Slyudyanka station. Igor got off. He shook Polly's wing tip with two fingers. "Three days fishing. Then home." He waved and was gone.

Vlak se zaustavio na stanici Slyudyanka. Igor je izašao. Stisnuo je Polly vrh krila s dva prsta. "Tri dana ribolova. Onda kući." Mahnuo je i nestao.

The train ran along the lake for three more hours. A group of Baikal seals came up to the surface. They are the only freshwater seals in the world.

Vlak je vozio uz jezero još tri sata. Skupina bajkalskih tuljana izronila je na površinu. Oni su jedini slatkovodni tuljani na svijetu.

Polly thought about how much water was below her. A tiny pink shrimp lives in Baikal. It keeps the water clean. It has been doing this job for 20 million years.

Polly je razmišljala o tome koliko je vode ispod nje. Mali ružičasti škamp živi u Bajkalu. Održava vodu čistom. To radi već 20 milijuna godina.