Polly at the Market

Berta kept her promise. At nine in the morning she was already knocking at the green door, basket in paw, and they walked together to the square where the Saturday market opens. The street smelled of oranges and fresh bread. "Good morning!" Polly called out at the first stall, and the whole row of awnings seemed to answer at once.

Berta alitimiza ahadi yake. Saa tatu asubuhi tayari alikuwa akigonga mlango wa kijani, kikapu mkononi, nao wakatembea pamoja hadi uwanja ambako soko la Jumamosi hufunguliwa. Mtaa ulinukia machungwa na mkate mpya. “Habari za asubuhi!” Polly aliita katika kibanda cha kwanza, na safu nzima ya vibanda ilionekana kujibu kwa pamoja.

At the fruit stall a goat in a striped apron was stacking apples into a perfect pyramid. Polly pointed at something green and spiky. "What is this? I have never seen this fruit." The goat laughed, cut a thin slice, and held it out. That is how Polly learned that in this neighborhood you taste first and decide later. "I want two apples and one of those, to try it."

Katika kibanda cha matunda, mbuzi aliyevaa aproni yenye mistari alikuwa akipanga matofaa katika piramidi kamili. Polly alionyesha kitu cha kijani chenye miiba. “Hii ni nini? Sijawahi kuona tunda hili.” Mbuzi alicheka, akakata kipande chembamba, akakinyoosha mbele. Hivyo ndivyo Polly alivyojifunza kwamba katika mtaa huu unaonja kwanza na kuamua baadaye. “Nataka matofaa mawili na moja kati ya hayo, nionje.”

"How much is it all together?" The goat named a price, Berta nodded that it was fair, and Polly counted out the coins one by one, proud of every single number. "A bag, please. I have to carry everything home." On the walk back, with the bag swinging under one wing, Polly decided that the market would be a Saturday habit. Some lessons taste better than they sound.

“Vyote pamoja ni bei gani?” Mbuzi alitaja bei, Berta akatikisa kichwa kuonyesha kwamba ilikuwa ya haki, na Polly akahesabu sarafu moja baada ya nyingine, akijivunia kila namba. “Mfuko, tafadhali. Ninapaswa kubeba vyote hadi nyumbani.” Njiani kurudi, mfuko ukibembea chini ya bawa moja, Polly aliamua kwamba soko lingekuwa desturi ya kila Jumamosi. Kuna masomo yanayoonja vizuri kuliko yanavyosikika.