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?"

Kapal pagi merapat di Stromness. Rumah-rumah berdiri memunggungi air. Polly melangkah ke batu pipih yang basah dan langsung memahami anginnya. Itu bukan embusan sesaat. Itu sebuah keadaan. Seekor anjing collie duduk di ujung dermaga. Polly menghampirinya. "Bisakah Anda menunjukkan jalannya?"

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.

Anjing itu bertanya ke mana Polly ingin pergi. Polly belum tahu. Di sini ada hampir tujuh puluh pulau, dan sekitar dua puluh pulau berpenghuni. Tidak ada hutan dan tidak ada yang tinggi sejauh mata memandang. "Bisakah Anda memberi tahu saya di mana saya bisa naik bus?" tanyanya. Anjing itu menganggukkan kepala ke arah sebuah halte di atas tanjakan.

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.

Lalu Polly bertanya seperti orang kota. "Berapa lama jalan kaki ke pusat kota?" Anjing collie itu memandang satu-satunya jalan yang membentang sepanjang kota. Sebelas menit, katanya, kalau Anda berhenti di depan etalase.

"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.

"Bisakah Anda memberi tahu saya apakah ada acara menarik hari ini?" Jadwal feri adalah berita lokal di sini, katanya. Ada kapal menuju batu karang tempat anjing laut. Ada kapel yang dibangun para tahanan. Ada desa yang terkubur pasir selama empat ribu tahun.