Sekvoja

Mariposa Grove bola hodinu jazdy južne od údolia. Strážca Tomas vysadil Polly na začiatku chodníka a skončil službu. "Choď pozrieť starých," povedal.

Mariposa Grove was an hour's drive south of the valley. Ranger Tomas had dropped Polly at the trailhead and gone off-duty. "Go see the old ones," he said.

Starí boli obrovské sekvoje. Sú to najväčšie stromy na svete podľa objemu.

The old ones were giant sequoias. They are the biggest trees in the world by volume.

Prvá vec, ktorú si Polly všimla, bola farba. Kôra sekvoje nie je hnedá. Je hlboko hrdzavo-oranžová a vyzerá ako špongia. Pristála na nízkej vetve a zobákom ďobla do kôry. Kôra trochu povolila. Bola takmer pol metra hrubá, mäkká na dotyk. Táto hrubá kôra je hlavnou obranou stromu proti ohňu.

The first thing Polly noticed was the colour. Sequoia bark is not brown. It is a deep rust-orange and looks spongy. She landed on a low branch and pecked the bark with her beak. The bark gave a little. It was nearly half a metre thick, soft to the touch. This thick bark is the tree's main defence against fire.

Okolo prešla rodina. Malé dievčatko povedalo: "Pozri, papagáj!" Jej otec povedal: "To je plyšová hračka, ktorú niekto zabudol." Polly sa nepohla.

A family walked past. A little girl said, "Look, a parrot!" Her father said, "It's a stuffed toy someone forgot." Polly did not move.

Vzlietla po boku stromu, úroveň po úrovni. Vo výške tridsať metrov začali vetvy. Boli hrubé ako jej vlastné telo. Usadila sa na jednej a pozrela hore. Koruna bola ďalších štyridsať metrov vyššie.

She flew up the side of the tree, level by level. At thirty metres up, the branches began. They were as thick as her own body. She perched on one and looked up. The crown was another forty metres higher.

Chodník končil pri jednom strome: Grizzly Giant. Mal asi 2 995 rokov. Jeho kmeň bol širší ako mestský autobus.

The trail ended at one tree: the Grizzly Giant. It was about 2,995 years old. Its trunk was wider than a city bus.

Polly sa usadila na nízkom mieste v kôre. Pozrela hore.

Polly perched on a low spot in the bark. She looked up.

Tri tisíc rokov. Strom tu bol, keď egyptskí faraóni stavali Údolie kráľov. Bol tu, keď Rím bol malou farmárskou dedinou. Každý rok sa zväčšil asi o jeden centimeter, v tichom pokoji.

Three thousand years. The tree had been here when Egyptian pharaohs were building the Valley of the Kings. It had been here when Rome was a small farming village. It had grown about one centimetre wider each year, in steady silence.

Zostala dlho. Malá jazva po ohni na kmeni bola staršia ako väčšina krajín. Strom prežil desiatky požiarov.

She stayed a long time. A small fire scar on the trunk was older than most countries. The tree had survived dozens of fires.

Semienko veľké asi ako ovsená vločka padlo okolo nej. Semená sekvojí potrebujú oheň, aby rástli. Šišky sa otvárajú len v teple. Každá nová sekvoja je výsledkom starého požiaru.

A seed about the size of an oat flake fell past her. Sequoia seeds need fire to grow. The cones only open in the heat. Every new sequoia is the result of an old burn.