Mji Uliosimama Ukingoni

Upepo hufika kabla ya nchi kavu. Polly anaupanda kuelekea kusini kando ya pwani ya Korsika hadi kisiwa kinapokoma ghafla, na pale mbele yake kuna maji wazi, na ng'ambo ya maji kuna kisiwa kingine kilicholala chini, cha buluu, kwenye upeo wa macho. Hicho ni Sardinia. Njia ya maji kati yao inaitwa Mlangobahari wa Bonifacio, na upepo unamiminika ndani yake kama maji yanayopita langoni.

The wind arrives before the land does. Polly rides it south along the coast of Corsica until the island simply stops, and there in front of her is open water, and beyond the water another island lying low and blue on the horizon. That is Sardinia. The channel between them is called the Strait of Bonifacio, and the wind pours through it like water through a gate.

Anageuka kurudi kuelekea genge na kuuona mji. Umekaa juu ya mwamba mweupe wa chokaa, ukingoni kabisa, na nyumba zake ni ndefu, nyembamba na zimebanana, za rangi ya krimu na manjano hafifu ya udongo, madirisha yake yamefungwa dhidi ya mwanga wa alasiri. Kinachomsimamisha hewani ni sehemu ya chini ya kuta. Hakuna pengo. Jiwe la nyumba linaingia moja kwa moja ndani ya jiwe la genge, na genge linashuka takriban mita sabini hadi baharini. Mji huu haujasimama karibu na ukingo. Umesimama juu yake.

She turns back toward the cliff and sees the town. It sits on white limestone, right at the lip, and the houses are tall and narrow and pressed together, cream and pale ochre, their shutters closed against the afternoon light. What makes her stop in the air is the bottom of the walls. There is no gap. The stone of the houses runs straight into the stone of the cliff, and the cliff drops about seventy meters to the sea. This town does not stand near the edge. It stands on it.

Polly anatua juu ya boma na kuchungulia chini. Chini yake mwamba ni hafifu na mkavu, umekwanguliwa na chumvi, na shakwe wanazunguka katika nafasi kati ya ukuta na maji. Kisha anaona kitu kisichostahili kuwa pale. Mfereji mwembamba umechongwa katika uso wa genge, ukishuka kwa mteremko mkali, na ndani ya mfereji huo kuna vidato.

Polly lands on a rampart and looks over. Below her the rock is pale and dry and scoured by salt, and gulls turn in the space between the wall and the water. Then she notices something that does not belong. A narrow groove has been cut into the cliff face, running down at a steep angle, and inside that groove there are steps.

Anajaribu kuvihesabu kabla mwanga haujaondoka, kisha anakata tamaa. Vidato ni vingi kuliko anavyoweza kuona, na vinaishia mahali fulani chini gizani. Bahari inaendelea na sauti yake ya polepole dhidi ya mwamba. Polly anaamua kwamba atashuka huko.

She tries to count them before the light goes, and gives up. There are more steps than she can see, and they end somewhere below in shadow. The sea keeps up its slow noise against the rock. Polly decides that she is going down there.