Tidszoner

På den fjerde morgen var toget vest for Novosibirsk. Polly kiggede på uret. Det viste 06:30. Uret havde ikke ændret sig siden Moskva.

On the fourth morning, the train was west of Novosibirsk. Polly looked at the clock. It said 06:30. The clock had not changed since Moscow.

Hele toget kører efter Moskva-tid. Det ændrer sig ikke i syv dage. Man kan ikke køre et langt tog med forskellige tider ved hver station.

The whole train runs on Moscow time. It does not change for seven days. You cannot run a long train with different times at each station.

Men lokal tid udenfor var 10:30. Solen havde været oppe i seks timer.

But local time outside was 10:30. The sun had been up for six hours.

Polly gik for at finde spisevognen. Den var tre vogne væk. Hun hoppede langs korridoren.

Polly went to find the dining car. It was three carriages away. She hopped along the corridor.

Konduktørerne i grønne uniformer læste aviser mellem stationerne. De virkede ikke overraskede over at se en papegøje.

The conductors in green uniforms read newspapers between stations. They did not seem surprised to see a parrot.

Spisevognen havde lyseblå vægge og blondegardiner. Polly satte sig ved en bås ved vinduet.

The dining car had pale blue walls and lace curtains. Polly perched at a booth by the window.

En tjener kom med en menu til hende. Hun vippede hovedet. Han tog menuen tilbage. Så kom han med en lille tallerken. Brød, smør og mørk sild.

A waiter brought her a menu. She tilted her head. He took the menu back. Then he brought her a small plate. Bread, butter, and dark herring.

"Fra køkkenet," sagde han.

"Compliments of the kitchen," he said.

Silden var salt. Brødet var surt. Russere har spist dette på tog i hundrede og tyve år.

The herring was salty. The bread was sour. Russians have been eating this on trains for a hundred and twenty years.

Udenfor var skoven blevet til åbne græsarealer. Køer græssede nær et lille hus. En mand på en cykel ventede ved en jernbaneoverskæring.

Outside, the forest had become open grassland. Cows grazed near a small house. A man on a bicycle waited at a railway crossing.