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?"

Morgenbåten la til i Stromness. Husene står med ryggen mot sjøen. Polly satte foten på våte steinheller og forsto vinden. Det var ikke et vindkast. Det var en tilstand. En collie satt ytterst på kaia. Polly gikk bort til ham. "Kan du vise meg veien?"

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.

Han spurte hvor hun ville. Hun visste det ikke ennå. Det er nesten sytti øyer, og omtrent tjue av dem har folk boende. Det finnes ingen skog og ingenting høyt på mange mil. "Kan du si meg hvor jeg kan ta bussen?" spurte hun. Han nikket mot et leskur oppe i bakken.

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.

Så stilte hun et byspørsmål. "Hvor lang tid tar det å gå til sentrum?" Collien så bortover den ene gata som går gjennom hele byen. Elleve minutter, sa han, hvis du stopper ved vinduene.

"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.

"Kan du fortelle meg om det skjer noe interessant i dag?" Fergeruta er lokalnyhetene her, sa han. Det gikk en båt ut til selskjærene. Det fantes et kapell bygd av krigsfanger. Det fantes en landsby som lå under sand i fire tusen år.