The Painted Animals of the Red Rocks

Today Polly flies out of the town, into the forest. Here the rocks are not pink but deep red. Wind and rain have made them round and smooth, like waves of stone between the pine trees. A red squirrel drops a pine cone on her head. It is her way of saying hello.

Danas Polly leti iz grada u šumu. Stijene ovdje nisu ružičaste nego tamno crvene. Vjetar i kiša učinili su ih okruglima i glatkima, poput valova od kamena između borova. Crvena vjeverica baci joj češer na glavu. To je njezin način da kaže dobar dan.

The squirrel takes Polly to a low rock shelter. On the red stone there are paintings. She sees deer with big antlers and wild goats that jump. The colors are old and soft now, but the animals still look alive.

Vjeverica odvede Polly do niskog kamenog zaklona. Na crvenom kamenu su slike. Vidi jelene s velikim rogovima i divlje koze koje skaču. Boje su sada stare i blage, ali životinje još izgledaju živo.

People painted these animals thousands of years ago. Today the paintings are protected as world heritage. Polly finds a painted bird with open wings. She looks at it for a very long time. A bird painted by careful human hands, so very many years ago.

Ljudi su naslikali ove životinje prije više tisuća godina. Danas su slike zaštićene kao svjetska baština. Polly pronađe naslikanu pticu raširenih krila. Vrlo je dugo gleda. Ptica koju su naslikale pažljive ljudske ruke, prije toliko mnogo godina.

In the evening the red rocks glow like fire. A real deer steps out of the forest, looks around, and disappears again. The paintings and the forest still tell the same story, Polly thinks.

Navečer crvene stijene svijetle poput vatre. Prava srna izađe iz šume, pogleda oko sebe i opet nestane. Slike i šuma još uvijek pričaju istu priču, pomisli Polly.