The Village Under the Storm

Polly had one place written down. "Can you tell me how to get there?" she asked the ewe at breakfast. Follow the coast road west, the ewe said. The Bay of Skaill is a long curve of pale sand. Behind it is a green shelf, and the village sits there, half sunk into the ground.

Polly hanya mencatat satu nama tempat. "Bisakah Anda memberi tahu saya cara ke sana?" tanyanya kepada domba itu saat sarapan. Ikuti jalan pantai ke barat, kata domba itu. Teluk Skaill adalah lengkung panjang berpasir pucat. Di belakangnya ada teras hijau, dan desa itu berada di sana, setengah terbenam di dalam tanah.

An oystercatcher was working the site. Polly asked, "I would like to know the history of this particular monument." People lived here five thousand years ago, he said. They farmed this coast before Stonehenge and before the Great Pyramid. Then sand covered the village for four thousand years, until a storm in eighteen fifty took it away.

Seekor burung pemakan tiram sedang bekerja di situs itu. Polly bertanya, "Saya ingin tahu sejarah monumen ini." Orang-orang tinggal di sini lima ribu tahun yang lalu, katanya. Mereka bertani di pesisir ini sebelum Stonehenge dan sebelum Piramida Besar. Lalu pasir menutupi desa itu selama empat ribu tahun, sampai badai pada tahun seribu delapan ratus lima puluh menyingkirkannya.

The wind took half of that. "Could you please repeat that for me?" Polly asked. Every house has the same furniture in the same places. A hearth in the middle. Beds at each side. A stone dresser against the far wall. It is stone because there was no wood.

Angin membawa pergi separuh cerita itu. "Bisakah Anda mengulanginya untuk saya?" tanya Polly. Setiap rumah punya perabot yang sama di tempat yang sama. Perapian di tengah. Tempat tidur di kedua sisi. Lemari batu di dinding seberang. Bahannya batu karena di sini tidak ada kayu.

"Could you tell me if the museum is open tomorrow?" Polly asked. She knew she would come back. She stood at the edge of one house, looking into a room laid out the way anyone lays out a room.

"Bisakah Anda memberi tahu saya apakah museumnya buka besok?" tanya Polly. Ia tahu ia akan kembali. Ia berdiri di tepi salah satu rumah, memandang ke dalam ruangan yang ditata seperti siapa pun menata ruangan.