The Boat Comes In

The morning boat tied up at Stromness. The houses stand with their backs to the water. Polly stepped onto wet flagstones and understood the wind. It was not a gust. It was a condition. A collie sat at the end of the pier. Polly went over to him. "Can you show me the way?"

Jutarnji brod privezao se u Stromnessu. Kuće stoje leđima okrenute vodi. Polly je stupila na mokre kamene ploče i shvatila vjetar. Nije to bio nalet. Bilo je to stanje. Na kraju mola sjedio je škotski ovčar. Polly mu je prišla. „Možete li mi pokazati put?”

He asked where she wanted to go. She did not know yet. There are close to seventy islands, and about twenty have people on them. There is no forest and nothing tall for miles. "Could you tell me where I can catch a bus?" she asked. He tipped his head toward a shelter up the slope.

Pitao ju je kamo želi ići. Još nije znala. Otoka ima blizu sedamdeset, a na dvadesetak njih žive ljudi. Nema šume ni ičega visokog na kilometre. „Možete li mi reći gdje mogu uhvatiti autobus?” pitala je. Nagnuo je glavu prema nadstrešnici uz uzbrdicu.

Then she asked a city question. "How long does it take to walk to the city center?" The collie looked along the one street that runs the length of the town. Eleven minutes, he said, if you stop at the windows.

Zatim je postavila gradsko pitanje. „Koliko treba pješke do centra grada?” Ovčar je pogledao niz jedinu ulicu koja ide cijelom dužinom mjesta. Jedanaest minuta, rekao je, ako zastaneš pred izlozima.

"Can you tell me if there are any interesting events today?" The ferry timetable is the local news, he said. There was a boat to the seal rocks. There was a chapel built by prisoners. There was a village that lay under sand for four thousand years.

„Možete li mi reći ima li danas kakvih zanimljivih događanja?” Red plovidbe trajekta ovdje su lokalne vijesti, rekao je. Postojao je brod do hridi s tuljanima. Postojala je kapelica koju su sagradili zarobljenici. Postojalo je selo koje je četiri tisuće godina ležalo pod pijeskom.