Hakuna Anayekubaliana juu ya Idadi

Kisha, chini zaidi, kuna mgeni mwingine kwenye ngazi. Mbweha mwenye kofia ngumu ya njano anapanda kutoka chini akiwa na rula ya kukunja na daftari, akisimama kila kidato, akipima kimo chake, na kuandika namba. Polly anasogea pembeni kwenye ukingo wa mwamba na kumpisha. Inachukua muda mrefu. Vidato ni vingi mno.

Then, further down, there is somebody else on the staircase. A fox in a yellow hard hat is working her way up from below with a folding rule and a notebook, stopping at every step, measuring the height of it, writing the number down. Polly moves aside to a ledge and lets her pass. It takes a long time. There are a great many steps.

Kupima huku si kujishughulisha na mambo madogo bure. Vidato vilichongwa kwa mkono, na hakuna viwili vinavyofanana, na hiyo ndiyo sababu hasa vinastahili kurekodiwa. Vingine vina kimo cha kitabu kinene. Vingine ni kama ukingo mdogo tu. Upana wa mchongo mzima unabadilika kadiri unavyoendelea, mwembamba kama mlango mahali pengine na mpana kuliko meza mahali pengine, kwa sababu aliyeuchonga alikuwa akifuata mwamba badala ya mchoro.

The measuring is not fussiness. The steps were cut by hand, and no two are the same, which is exactly why they are worth recording. Some are the height of a thick book. Some are barely a lip. The width of the whole cut changes as it goes, narrow as a doorway in places and wider than a table in others, because whoever made it was following the rock rather than a drawing.

Hapa ndipo sehemu ambayo Polly anaipenda zaidi. Hakuna anayejua kwa uhakika kuna vidato vingapi. Rejista ya Urithi wa Taifa inasema mia moja themanini na saba. Ofisi ya utalii ya mji yenyewe inasema mia moja themanini na tisa. Zote mbili ni rasmi. Zote mbili zimechapishwa. Zimekaa hapo zikipingana kwa miaka mingi.

Here is the part Polly likes best. Nobody is quite sure how many steps there are. The national heritage register says one hundred and eighty seven. The town's own tourist office says one hundred and eighty nine. Both are official. Both are published. They have been sitting there disagreeing with each other for years.

Anamtazama mbweha akifika juu, akinyoosha mgongo, na kuanza kuandika. Mahali fulani katika daftari lile idadi inaamuliwa upya, kwa sasa. Polly anatazama chini mwanya mrefu wa jiwe lililochakaa na kuamua kwamba anaamini idadi yoyote iliyo kubwa zaidi, kwa hoja kwamba inahisi kuwa zaidi unapopanda.

She watches the fox reach the top, stretch her back, and start writing. Somewhere in that notebook the number is being settled again, for now. Polly looks down the long slot of worn stone and decides she believes whichever number is larger, on the grounds that it feels like more when you are climbing.