Mashamba ya Maji Meupe

Polly aliruka kusini kando ya pwani. Karibu na mto mdogo, nchi ilikuwa tambarare. Kulikuwa na mamia ya vidimbwi visivyo na kina karibu na bahari. Kila kidimbwi kilimeremeta kama kioo. Haya ni mashamba ya chumvi ya Sečovlje. Watu wametengeneza chumvi hapa kwa zaidi ya miaka mia saba.

Polly flew south along the coast. By a small river, the land was flat. There were hundreds of shallow pools by the sea. Each pool shone like a mirror. These are the salt pans of Sečovlje. People have made salt here for more than seven hundred years.

Maji ya bahari huingia ndani ya vidimbwi. Wakati wote wa kiangazi jua huyachukua maji. Chumvi hubaki. Polly aliingia ndani ya kidimbwi. Maji yalikuwa ya joto na ya chumvi.

Sea water comes into the pools. All summer the sun takes the water away. The salt stays. Polly walked into a pool. The water was warm and salty.

Wafanyakazi wa chumvi walisukuma reki ndefu za mbao ndani ya maji. Chumvi nyeupe ilifanya vilima vidogo. Wanafanya kazi kwa mikono, kama zamani.

The salt workers pushed long wooden rakes through the water. The white salt made small hills. They work by hand, like long ago.

Mfanyakazi mmoja alimwonyesha sakafu ya kidimbwi. Ilikuwa nyeusi na laini, kama ngozi. Inaliweka tope chini, kwa hiyo chumvi inabaki nyeupe.

A worker showed her the floor of the pool. It was dark and smooth, like skin. It keeps the mud down, so the salt stays white.