The Chair by the Fire

The guesthouse stood above the harbour, with its door on the sheltered side. On these islands, that is the side you put a door on. It was kept by a North Ronaldsay ewe, one of the shore sheep that eat seaweed. Polly stood in the hall. "Do you have any available rooms?"

Pensionatet lå over havnen med døren på læsiden. På disse øer er det den side, man sætter en dør på. Det blev drevet af et får fra North Ronaldsay, et af de strandfår, der spiser tang. Polly stod i entreen. "Har I nogen ledige værelser?"

There were rooms. There usually are in September. Polly said, "I would like a quiet room, please." The ewe waited a moment before she answered. The back rooms face the yard and the front rooms face the water. The wind finds both. After two nights you stop hearing it.

Der var værelser. Det er der som regel i september. Polly sagde: "Jeg vil gerne have et roligt værelse, tak." Fåret ventede et øjeblik, før hun svarede. Værelserne bagude vender ud mod gården, og værelserne fortil vender ud mod vandet. Vinden finder begge dele. Efter to nætter holder man op med at høre den.

"Could you assist me with my luggage, please?" The ewe carried the bag up and set it beside a chair by the fire. Its frame was driftwood, because no tree grows here. Its back was oat straw, coiled into a hood. A joiner in Kirkwall named David Kirkness made that design standard in the middle of the eighteen hundreds.

"Kunne du hjælpe mig med min bagage, tak?" Fåret bar tasken op og satte den ved en stol ved ilden. Stellet var af drivtømmer, for der vokser ingen træer her. Ryggen var af havrehalm, snoet til en hætte. En snedker i Kirkwall ved navn David Kirkness gjorde det design fast i midten af attenhundredetallet.

"What time is check-out?" Polly asked. The ferry decides everything here. Then she sat in the chair. The straw hood cut the draught from the door, and for the first time since the boat she could hear herself breathe.

"Hvornår er der udtjekning?" spurgte Polly. Færgen bestemmer alt heroppe. Så satte hun sig i stolen. Halmhætten holdt trækken fra døren ude, og for første gang siden båden kunne hun høre sig selv trække vejret.