O Amur

Na manhã do sexto dia, o trem atravessava o Extremo Oriente Russo. A taiga havia mudado de caráter novamente. As árvores dominantes agora eram o pinheiro coreano, o freixo da Manchúria e o carvalho mongol. A floresta parecia mais próxima, de alguma forma, mesmo vista do trem. Árvores menores, mais variedade, um emaranhado de cipós nos troncos inferiores. Esta era a floresta temperada do Extremo Oriente Russo, uma das mais úmidas do mundo fora dos trópicos.

On the sixth morning, the train was running through the Russian Far East. The taiga had changed character again. The dominant trees now were Korean pine, Manchurian ash, and Mongolian oak. The forest felt closer, somehow, even from the train. Smaller trees, more variety, a tangle of vines on the lower trunks. This was the temperate rainforest of the Russian Far East, one of the wettest forests in the world outside the tropics.

Polly estava sozinha no compartimento. Pavel tinha descido em Ulan-Ude duas noites atrás. O soldado havia sido transferido para outro vagão. Mais dois passageiros passaram por ali e desceram em estações menores. A nova ocupante do beliche superior era uma mulher magra de talvez cinquenta anos que dormia a maior parte do dia e lia à noite.

Polly was alone in the compartment. Pavel had gotten off in Ulan-Ude two nights ago. The soldier had been transferred to a different carriage. Two more passengers had cycled through and gotten off at smaller stations. The new occupant of the upper bunk was a thin woman of perhaps fifty who slept most of the day and read at night.

Um único trem de carga passou na direção oposta. Tinha quase dois quilômetros de comprimento. Estava carregando madeira. Polly contou trinta e oito vagões antes de parar de contar.

A single freight train passed in the opposite direction. It was nearly two kilometres long. It was carrying timber. Polly counted thirty-eight flatbeds before she stopped counting.

O trem chegou a Khabarovsk no meio da manhã. Khabarovsk fica às margens do rio Amur, o oitavo rio mais longo do mundo, que forma grande parte da fronteira entre a Rússia e a China. Da plataforma, Polly podia ver o rio através da abertura entre dois prédios. Era largo. Tinha a cor de um chá forte. Na margem oposta, visível através da névoa, estava a China.

The train arrived at Khabarovsk in mid-morning. Khabarovsk sits on the Amur River, the eighth-longest river in the world, which forms much of the border between Russia and China. From the platform, Polly could see the river through the gap between two buildings. It was wide. It was the colour of strong tea. On the far bank, just visible through the haze, was China.

Polly desceu para a plataforma. Caminhou ao longo do trem. Era bom usar as pernas.

Polly hopped down to the platform. She walked the length of the train. It was good to use her legs.

Um grou do Extremo Oriente Russo estava parado à beira de um pequeno pântano perto dos pátios da estação. Era uma ave preta e branca com vermelho ao redor do olho, quase dois metros de altura, observando o trem com a paciência de um animal que já tinha visto muitos trens. Polly inclinou sua cabeça ruiva para ele. O grou inclinou a cabeça de volta. Polly se aproximou. O grou não se moveu.

A Russian Far East crane was standing at the edge of a small marsh near the station yards. It was a black-and-white bird with red around its eye, almost two metres tall, watching the train with the patience of an animal that had seen many trains. Polly tilted her red head at it. The crane tilted its head back. Polly walked closer. The crane did not move.

O grou do Extremo Oriente Russo é um dos mais raros do mundo. Existem talvez três mil deles restantes, reproduzindo-se principalmente na bacia do Amur. Tem uma dança de cortejo longa e cuidadosa que leva horas e parece, para os humanos, um ato de grave dignidade. O grou à frente de Polly não estava dançando. Estava esperando.

The Russian Far East crane is one of the rarest cranes in the world. There are perhaps three thousand of them left, breeding mostly in the Amur basin. It has a long, careful courtship dance that takes hours and looks, to humans, like an act of grave dignity. The crane in front of Polly was not dancing. It was waiting.

Um condutor apitou. Polly voltou para o trem. Virou-se na porta e olhou para o grou. O grou ainda a observava. Então, ergueu seu longo pescoço muito lentamente e caminhou, em passos deliberados, para longe dela, entrando no pântano.

A conductor blew a whistle. Polly hopped back to the train. She turned at the door and looked at the crane. The crane was still looking at her. Then it lifted its long neck very slowly and walked, in deliberate steps, away from her into the marsh.

O trem saiu de Khabarovsk e virou para o sul. O Pacífico estava a menos de setecentos quilômetros agora. A floresta do lado de fora da janela ficou mais densa. Um rio correu ao lado dos trilhos por uma hora. Depois, desapareceu.

The train pulled out of Khabarovsk and turned south. The Pacific was less than seven hundred kilometres away now. The forest outside the window grew denser. A river ran beside the tracks for an hour. Then it was gone.

No vagão-restaurante, na hora do almoço, o garçom trouxe para Polly um pequeno prato de pelmeni com creme azedo, sem que ela pedisse. Ele havia descoberto, nos últimos três dias, o que ela gostava. Os pelmeni eram de carne bovina. O creme azedo era forte. A janela do vagão-restaurante emoldurava uma linha de colinas escuras no horizonte. A última cadeia antes do mar.

In the dining car at lunch, the waiter brought Polly a small plate of pelmeni with sour cream, unasked. He had figured out, over the last three days, what she liked. The pelmeni were beef. The sour cream was sharp. The window of the dining car framed a line of dark hills on the horizon. The last range before the sea.

A mulher no compartimento de Polly estava lendo o mesmo livro que lia todas as noites, mas agora estava na metade. O samovar estava funcionando. O trem fazia seu ritmo. Seis dias disso haviam se tornado normais. Polly percebeu que começara a sentir, de alguma maneira silenciosa, que aquele trem era onde ela vivia.

The woman in Polly's compartment was reading the same book she had been reading every night, but now she was halfway through. The samovar was running. The train made its rhythm. Six days of it had become normal. Polly noticed that she had begun to feel, in some quiet way, that this train was where she lived.