The Jar

On the second morning, Chiara brought a jar to Pasta's tank. The jar had a screw lid. Inside was a live crab.

Asubuhi ya pili, Chiara alileta kopo kwenye tangi la Pasta. Kopo lilikuwa na mfuniko wa kuzungusha. Ndani yake kulikuwa na kaa hai.

Chiara dropped the jar into the water. It sank slowly. Pasta did not lunge.

Chiara alidondosha kopo ndani ya maji. Lilitumbukia polepole. Pasta hakuruka.

Polly perched on the rim. The crab moved inside the jar. Pasta touched the jar with one arm. Her arms can taste what they touch.

Polly alikaa kwenye ukingo. Kaa lilihama ndani ya kopo. Pasta aligusa kopo kwa mkono mmoja. Mikono yake inaweza kuonja kile inachogusa.

Pasta gathered the jar with two arms. She turned it slowly. A third arm worked at the lid.

Pasta alikusanya kopo kwa mikono miwili. Alikizungusha polepole. Mkono wa tatu ulifanya kazi kwenye mfuniko.

Octopuses can open screw-top jars. They have done it in labs since the 1950s. They feel the threads with their suckers. Then they turn the lid.

Pweza wanaweza kufungua makopo yenye mfuniko wa kuzungusha. Wamekuwa wakifanya hivyo maabara tangu miaka ya 1950. Wanahisi nyuzi kwa vishikizo vyao. Kisha wanazungusha mfuniko.

Pasta turned the lid. It popped off. The crab tried to escape. But Pasta's fourth arm was waiting. The crab was gone.

Pasta alizungusha mfuniko. Ulifunguka. Kaa alijaribu kutoroka. Lakini mkono wa nne wa Pasta ulikuwa unangoja. Kaa alitoweka.

Chiara wrote on her clipboard. "Three minutes. She is getting fast."

Chiara aliandika kwenye kibao chake. "Dakika tatu. Anakuwa mwepesi."

Octopuses are very strange. They have three hearts. Their blood is blue. They live only three to five years. Pasta was already two.

Pweza ni viumbe wa ajabu sana. Wana mioyo mitatu. Damu yao ni ya buluu. Wanaishi miaka mitatu hadi mitano tu. Pasta alikuwa tayari na miaka miwili.

She would learn everything she would ever know in the time she had left.

Angejifunza kila kitu angeweza kujua katika muda aliobaki nao.