Napolibugten

Polly ankom over Napolibugten sent om formiddagen. Vandet havde farven af grønt glas. Vesuv lå på den fjerne side af bugten, halvt indhyllet i dis, et perfekt kegleformet bjerg, der havde begravet Pompeji i år 79 e.Kr. og ikke havde haft et udbrud siden 1944. Luften duftede af salt, fyrretræer og diesel fra små fiskerbåde.

Polly came in over the Bay of Naples in late morning. The water was the colour of green glass. Mount Vesuvius sat on the far side of the bay, half-veiled in haze, a perfectly cone-shaped mountain that had buried Pompeii in 79 AD and had not erupted since 1944. The air smelled of salt and pine and the diesel of small fishing boats.

Hun fulgte kystlinjens kurve mod vest. Gennem gaderne i Mergellina kunne hun se vasketøj hænge fra altanerne, scootere sno sig mellem bilerne, og en mand med en trækvogn, der solgte citroner på størrelse med hendes eget hoved.

She followed the curve of the shoreline westward. Through the streets of Mergellina she could see laundry hanging from balconies, scooters threading between cars, and a man with a wooden cart selling lemons the size of her own head.

Hendes destination var en bygning lige ved vandet i Villa Comunale-parken: en lang okkermalet italiensk neoklassisk struktur med høje buede vinduer. En lille messingplade læste STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA ANTON DOHRN. Under det, med mindre bogstaver, FONDATA 1872.

Her destination was a building right on the water in the Villa Comunale park: a long ochre-painted Italian neoclassical structure with tall arched windows. A small brass plaque read STAZIONE ZOOLOGICA ANTON DOHRN. Below that, in smaller letters, FONDATA 1872.

Polly kendte til dette sted. Det var blevet grundlagt af en tysk zoolog ved navn Anton Dohrn, som var kommet til Napoli i sine tyvere, fordi bugten var det rigeste marine økosystem i Europa, og han ønskede at studere det. Han havde bygget instituttet med sine egne familiepenge og hjælp fra andre videnskabsfolk. Det var det ældste stadig fungerende marinebiologiske institut i verden. Det havde studeret blæksprutter siden 1873.

Polly knew about this place. It had been founded by a German zoologist named Anton Dohrn, who had come to Naples in his twenties because the bay was the richest marine ecosystem in Europe and he wanted to study it. He had built the institute with his own family money and the help of fellow scientists. It was the oldest still-operating marine biology institute in the world. It had been studying octopuses since 1873.

Hun satte sig på et smedejernsgelænder nær indgangen. En ung forsker i hvide sko og en marineblå laboratoriefrakke var ved at låse bagdøren op. Kvinden så Polly. Hun så ikke overrasket ud. "Sei in ritardo," sagde hun smilende. "Eller måske tidligt. Kom indenfor."

She perched on a wrought-iron railing near the entrance. A young researcher in white shoes and a navy lab coat was unlocking the back door. The woman saw Polly. She did not look surprised. "Sei in ritardo," she said, smiling. "Or maybe early. Come on in."

Sådan gik Polly gennem bagdøren til Stazione Zoologica.

That is how Polly walked through the back door of the Stazione Zoologica.

Bygningen duftede af havvand, salt og rent. Lange korridorer løb mellem rum fulde af tanke. Gennem glasvæggene kunne hun se sardiner svømme i bånd, en lille blæksprutte trykket mod et hjørne af sin tank, en havhare, der langsomt bevægede sig over et tangblad.

The building smelled of seawater, briny and clean. Long corridors ran between rooms full of tanks. Through the glass walls she could see ribbons of sardines turning together, a small octopus pressed against one corner of its tank, a sea hare moving slowly over a kelp blade.

Forskerens navn var Chiara Bianchi. Hun havde studeret bløddyrskognition på dette institut i ni år. Hun gik hurtigt. "Direktøren er i Stockholm denne uge," sagde hun. "Du vil mest se mig og dyrene. Blæksprutterne er de klogeste af vores dyr. Eller i det mindste de klogeste af dem, vi er sikre på, er bevidste. Juryen er stadig ude angående havharerne."

The researcher's name was Chiara Bianchi. She had been studying cephalopod cognition at this institute for nine years. She walked quickly. "The director is in Stockholm this week," she said. "You will mostly see me and the animals. The octopuses are the smartest of our animals. Or at least the smartest of the ones we are sure are conscious. The jury is still out on the sea hares."

De kom til en høj rund tank i et stille baglokale. Et håndskrevet kort på siden læste PASTA, 2,3KG, GPO. Inde i tanken, i hjørnet, halvt foldet ind i en spiral af plastikrør, var en kæmpe Stillehavsblæksprutte. Det meste af dens krop havde farven af røret. Otte arme var pænt viklet omkring sig selv. Et øje, gyldent og med rektangulær pupil, betragtede dem gennem glasset.

They came to a tall round tank in a quiet back room. A handwritten card on the side read PASTA, 2.3KG, GPO. Inside the tank, in the corner, half-folded into a coil of plastic pipe, was a giant Pacific octopus. Most of its body was the colour of the pipe. Eight arms wrapped tidily around itself. One eye, golden and rectangular-pupiled, watched them through the glass.

Chiara satte sin kaffe på en disk. "Pasta," sagde hun, "mød Polly."

Chiara set her coffee on a counter. "Pasta," she said, "meet Polly."

Blæksprutten bevægede sig ikke. Dens hud blev langsomt en blød pink ved kanterne af, hvor den rørte røret. Polly vippede sit røde hoved. Blæksprutten vippede intet, men dens ene synlige øje blev ved med at holde øje med hende.

The octopus did not move. Its skin slowly turned a soft pink at the edges of where it touched the pipe. Polly tilted her red head. The octopus tilted nothing, but its single visible eye stayed on her.

"Du kan sætte dig på kanten," sagde Chiara. "Hun vil ikke sprøjte dig. Hun er rolig om morgenen. Hun bliver klog om eftermiddagen."

"You can perch on the rim," Chiara said. "She will not splash you. She is calm in the mornings. She gets clever in the afternoons."