Zbogom tjestenini

Sedmog jutra, Polly je rano sišla do spremnika. Laboratorij je bio tih. Chiara neće doći još sat vremena. Institut se budio ovako svako jutro već sto pedeset četiri godine.

On the seventh morning, Polly came down to the tank early. The lab was quiet. Chiara would not be in for another hour. The institute had been waking up like this every morning for one hundred and fifty-four years.

Tjestenina je bila na prednjem dijelu spremnika.

Pasta was at the front of the tank.

Ovo nije bilo normalno. Šest jutara, Polly je sjedila na rubu, a hobotnica je bila sklupčana u svojoj cijevi ili plutala u kutu. Danas je hobotnica bila pritisnuta uz prednji zid, svih osam krakova opušteno je bilo rašireno po staklu, a njezino jedino vidljivo oko bilo je u ravnini s Pollyinim.

This was not normal. For six mornings, Polly had perched on the rim and the octopus had been folded in her pipe, or drifting in a corner. Today the octopus was pressed against the front wall, all eight arms spread loosely against the glass, her single visible eye level with Polly's.

Gledale su se.

They looked at each other.

Ono što prolazi između papige i divovske pacifičke hobotnice vjerojatno nije prijateljstvo. Hobotnica je možda jednostavno istraživala toplokrvno stvorenje koje je bilo oko njezinog spremnika šest dana. Hobotnice mogu osjetiti toplinu kroz svoju kožu. Mogu osjetiti kretanje kroz svoje pipke. Prikupljale su informacije.

What passes between a parrot and a giant Pacific octopus is probably not friendship. The octopus might simply have been investigating the warm-blooded creature that had been around her tank for six days. Octopuses can read warmth through their skin. They can read movement through their suckers. They were collecting information.

Polly je skakutala duž ruba. Hobotničino oko pratilo ju je, a zatim su se njezini krakovi polako pomaknuli da je slijede. Kad je Polly stala, oko je stalo.

Polly hopped along the rim. The octopus's eye tracked her, then her arms shifted slowly to follow. When Polly stopped, the eye stopped.

Sedam punih minuta gledale su se. Filter za vodu tiho je zujao.

For seven full minutes they watched each other. The water filter hummed softly.

Tada je hobotnica učinila nešto što Polly nije vidjela cijeli tjedan. Polako je odmotala jedan krak i pritisnula sam vrh uz staklo točno nasuprot mjestu gdje je Pollyina noga počivala. Pipci su se raširili, a zatim umirili.

Then the octopus did something Polly had not seen her do all week. She unfurled one arm slowly and pressed the very tip of it against the glass exactly opposite where Polly's foot was resting. The suckers spread, then stilled.

Polly je spustila kljun na staklo i nježno ga dotaknula zatvorenim kljunom. Kroz hladno staklo, na njezinoj strani, nije bilo ničega. Na hobotničinoj strani, možda mnogo toga.

Polly lowered her beak to the glass and touched it gently with her closed beak. Through the cold glass, on her side, there was nothing. On the octopus's side, perhaps a great deal.

Krak je ostao jednu dugu minutu. Zatim je skliznuo natrag u vodu.

The arm stayed for one long minute. Then it slid back into the water.

Chiara je ušla s dvije kave. "Odlaziš," rekla je. "Zamišljala sam da će se to dogoditi. Putuj sigurno. Vrati se kad možeš."

Chiara came in with two coffees. "You are leaving," she said. "I imagined this would happen. Travel safely. Come back when you can."

Polly se podigla s ruba. Odletjela je niz dugi hodnik instituta, pored srdela i algi, i izašla u svijetlo jutro Ville Comunale. Napuljski zaljev otvorio se pred njom.

Polly lifted off the rim. She flew out down the long corridor of the institute, past the sardines and the kelp, and out into the bright morning of the Villa Comunale. The Bay of Naples opened in front of her.