Vladivostok

Siedme ráno mal vlak prísť do Vladivostoku o 06:15 moskovského času, čo bolo 13:15 miestneho času. Polly sa zobudila pri prvom miestnom svetle, niekedy okolo piatej.

On the seventh morning, the train was due into Vladivostok at 06:15 Moscow time, which was 13:15 local time. Polly woke at first local light, sometime around five.

Cez okno sa les zmenil na nízke kopce a trávu. Pacifik bol niekde vpredu. Cítila ho, tak ako cítiš veľké vodné telo, ešte skôr než ho uvidíš.

Through the window, the forest had given way to low rolling hills and grass. The Pacific was somewhere ahead. She could feel it, the way you can feel a large body of water before you see it.

Posledná stanica pred Vladivostokom bola Ussurijsk. Vlak zastavil na pätnásť minút. Polly zoskočila. Žena predávala údené ryby z rozkladacieho stola. Ryby boli strieborné. Oči boli stále jasné. Polly ochutnala malý kúsok. Žena ho zabalila do novín a neprijala žiadnu platbu. Niektoré trhy fungujú takto.

The last station before Vladivostok was Ussuriysk. The train stopped for fifteen minutes. Polly hopped down. A woman was selling smoked fish from a folding table. The fish were silver. The eyes were still clear. Polly tried a small piece. The woman wrapped it in newspaper and accepted no payment. Some markets work this way.

Pacifik sa objavil na pravej strane vlaku okolo jedenástej miestneho času. Bol sivý a jasný.

The Pacific appeared on the right side of the train at around eleven local time. It was grey and bright.

Vladivostok sa objavil naraz. Mesto je postavené do kopcov, ktoré sa spúšťajú k moru. Vlak prechádza tunelom cez jeden z týchto kopcov. Koniec trate je na prístave. Nárazník na konci koľají je štyridsať metrov od vody.

Vladivostok arrived all at once. The city is built into hills that come down to the sea. The train tunnels through one of those hills. The end of the line is on the harbour. The buffer at the end of the tracks is forty metres from the water.

Vlak urobil svoju poslednú zastávku. Hodiny nad dverami kupé, nastavené na moskovský čas sedem dní, ukazovali 06:23. Miestne hodiny na stanici ukazovali 13:23.

The train made its final stop. The clock above the compartment door, on Moscow time for seven days, read 06:23. The local clock at the station read 13:23.

Polly zoskočila na nástupište. Vladivostok bol prístavné mesto nízkych kamenných budov a strmých ulíc. Vzduch voňal po rybách, hrdzi a soli.

Polly hopped down to the platform. Vladivostok was a port city of low stone buildings and steep streets. The air smelled of fish and rust and salt.

Na konci nástupišťa bol malý biely obelisk. Nápis čítal KILOMETER 9 289. Koniec trate.

At the end of the platform there was a small white obelisk. The inscription read KILOMETRE 9,289. The end of the line.

Polly stála pri obelisku dlhú minútu. Sedem dní. Pol miliardy rokov uralskej skaly. Dvadsaťpäť miliónov rokov Bajkalu. Jeden žeriav. Osem časových pásiem, z ktorých vlak sledoval len jedno.

Polly stood at the obelisk for a long minute. Seven days. Half a billion years of Ural rock. Twenty-five million years of Baikal. One crane. Eight time zones, of which the train had observed only one.

Natiahla svoje krídla. Pacifik bol hneď za prístavnou stenou. Zdvihla sa z nástupišťa, preletela nad žeriavmi kontajnerového prístavu a von nad záliv.

She stretched her wings. The Pacific was just past the harbour wall. She lifted from the platform, climbed over the cranes of the container port, and out over the bay.