Amur

Pada pagi keenam, kereta berada di Timur Jauh Rusia. Hutan telah berubah. Sekarang ada pohon pinus Korea, abu Manchuria, dan ek Mongolia. Hutan terasa lebih dekat. Ini adalah salah satu hutan terbasah di dunia di luar daerah tropis.

On the sixth morning, the train was in the Russian Far East. The forest had changed. There were now Korean pine, Manchurian ash, and Mongolian oak. The forest felt closer. This is one of the wettest forests in the world outside the tropics.

Polly sendirian di kompartemen. Pavel sudah pergi. Tentara itu sudah pindah.

Polly was alone in the compartment. Pavel had left. The soldier had moved.

Sebuah kereta barang melintas dari arah berlawanan. Panjangnya dua kilometer. Kereta itu membawa kayu. Polly menghitung tiga puluh delapan gerbong datar.

A freight train passed in the other direction. It was two kilometres long. It carried timber. Polly counted thirty-eight flatbeds.

Kereta tiba di Khabarovsk. Kota ini berada di Sungai Amur. Amur adalah sungai terpanjang kedelapan di dunia. Sungai ini adalah perbatasan antara Rusia dan Cina. Polly bisa melihat Cina di seberang sungai melalui kabut.

The train arrived at Khabarovsk. The city is on the Amur River. The Amur is the eighth-longest river in the world. It is the border between Russia and China. Polly could see China across the river through the haze.

Dia turun dari kereta untuk meluruskan kakinya.

She got off the train to stretch her legs.

Seekor bangau berdiri di tepi rawa. Warnanya hitam dan putih dengan merah di sekitar matanya. Tingginya hampir dua meter. Ini adalah bangau Timur Jauh Rusia. Salah satu bangau paling langka di dunia. Hanya sekitar tiga ribu yang tersisa.

A crane was standing at the edge of a marsh. It was black and white with red around the eye. It was nearly two metres tall. This is the Russian Far East crane. It is one of the rarest cranes in the world. Only about three thousand are left.

Polly memiringkan kepalanya. Bangau itu memiringkan kepalanya kembali. Mereka saling memperhatikan.

Polly tilted her head. The crane tilted its head back. They watched each other.

Seorang kondektur meniup peluit. Polly melompat kembali ke kereta. Dia berbalik dan melihat. Bangau itu perlahan mengangkat lehernya. Ia berjalan menjauh ke dalam rawa.

A conductor blew a whistle. Polly hopped back to the train. She turned and looked. The crane lifted its neck slowly. It walked away into the marsh.

Kereta berbelok ke selatan. Samudra Pasifik sekarang kurang dari 700 kilometer jauhnya.

The train turned south. The Pacific was now less than 700 kilometres away.