Ngazi na Hadithi ya Zamani

Kwa karibu vidato vinaonekana vibaya kuliko mwanzo. Vinashuka kwa mteremko mkali sana, karibu kama ngazi ya kupandia. Si ngazi za kweli. Ni mstari mwembamba uliochongwa katika mwamba, na mbali chini Polly anaona bahari ya kijani. Anarukaruka kushuka vidato vichache vya kwanza. Kila kidato ni cha juu kidogo au cha chini kidogo kuliko kile kilichotangulia.

Up close the steps look worse than before. They go down very steeply, almost like a ladder. It is not really a staircase. It is a narrow line cut into the rock, and far below Polly can see the green sea. She hops down the first few. Every step is a little higher or lower than the last one.

Kuna hadithi ya zamani kuhusu mahali hapa, na kila mtu huisimulia. Katika mwaka elfu moja mia nne na ishirini, jeshi lilikuja kuushambulia mji. Watu husema askari walichonga ngazi hizi zote katika genge kwa usiku mmoja, kwa siri, ili wapande juu na kuushtukiza mji ulio juu.

There is an old story about this place, and everybody tells it. In the year fourteen twenty, an army came to attack the town. People say the soldiers cut this whole staircase into the cliff in one night, in secret, so they could climb up and surprise the town above.

Ni hadithi nzuri. Lakini huenda si ya kweli. Mtafiti mmoja aliichunguza miaka mia moja iliyopita. Alisema mambo mawili. Huwezi kuchonga vidato mia mbili katika mwamba mgumu kwa usiku mmoja. Na kulikuwa na minara ya walinzi hapa, kwa hiyo hakuna mtu ambaye angeweza kufanya kazi usiku kucha bila kuonekana.

It is a good story. But it is probably not true. A researcher studied it a hundred years ago. He said two things. You cannot cut two hundred steps into hard rock in one night. And there were guard towers here, so nobody could work all night without being seen.

Polly anaketi kwenye kidato. Chini yake ndege mkubwa wa baharini anapita, chini sana hivi kwamba bawa lake karibu linagusa bahari. Hasogezi mabawa yake hata kidogo. Jibu la kweli liko mahali fulani chini zaidi.

Polly sits down on a step. Below her a big seabird flies past, so low that its wing almost touches the sea. It does not move its wings at all. The real answer is somewhere further down.