Kwaheri kwa Pasta

Asubuhi ya saba, Polly alishuka mapema kwenye tanki. Maabara ilikuwa kimya. Chiara hangefika kwa saa nyingine. Taasisi ilikuwa imekuwa ikiamka hivi kila asubuhi kwa miaka mia moja na hamsini na nne.

On the seventh morning, Polly came down to the tank early. The lab was quiet. Chiara would not be in for another hour. The institute had been waking up like this every morning for one hundred and fifty-four years.

Pasta alikuwa mbele ya tanki.

Pasta was at the front of the tank.

Hii haikuwa kawaida. Kwa siku sita, Polly alikuwa ameketi kwenye ukingo na pweza alikuwa amejikunja kwenye bomba lake, au akielea pembezoni. Leo pweza alikuwa amebanwa kwenye ukuta wa mbele, mikono yake yote minane ikitandazwa kwa upole dhidi ya kioo, jicho lake moja likiwa sawa na Polly.

This was not normal. For six mornings, Polly had perched on the rim and the octopus had been folded in her pipe, or drifting in a corner. Today the octopus was pressed against the front wall, all eight arms spread loosely against the glass, her single visible eye level with Polly's.

Walitazamana.

They looked at each other.

Kinachopita kati ya kasuku na pweza mkubwa wa Pasifiki labda si urafiki. Pweza huenda alikuwa tu akichunguza kiumbe mwenye damu ya moto aliyekuwa karibu na tanki lake kwa siku sita. Pweza wanaweza kusoma joto kupitia ngozi yao. Wanaweza kusoma mwendo kupitia vikombe vyao vya kunyonya. Walikuwa wakikusanya taarifa.

What passes between a parrot and a giant Pacific octopus is probably not friendship. The octopus might simply have been investigating the warm-blooded creature that had been around her tank for six days. Octopuses can read warmth through their skin. They can read movement through their suckers. They were collecting information.

Polly alirukaruka kwenye ukingo. Jicho la pweza lilimfuatilia, kisha mikono yake ikabadilika polepole kumfuata. Polly aliposimama, jicho lilisimama.

Polly hopped along the rim. The octopus's eye tracked her, then her arms shifted slowly to follow. When Polly stopped, the eye stopped.

Kwa dakika saba kamili walitazamana. Kichujio cha maji kilinong'ona kwa upole.

For seven full minutes they watched each other. The water filter hummed softly.

Kisha pweza alifanya kitu ambacho Polly hakuwa amemwona akifanya wiki nzima. Alikunja mkono mmoja polepole na kuugandamiza ncha yake dhidi ya kioo mahali ambapo mguu wa Polly ulikuwa umepumzika. Vikombe vya kunyonya vilitandazwa, kisha vikakaa kimya.

Then the octopus did something Polly had not seen her do all week. She unfurled one arm slowly and pressed the very tip of it against the glass exactly opposite where Polly's foot was resting. The suckers spread, then stilled.

Polly alishusha mdomo wake kwenye kioo na kukigusa kwa upole na mdomo wake uliofungwa. Kupitia kioo cha baridi, upande wake, hakukuwa na kitu. Upande wa pweza, labda kulikuwa na mengi.

Polly lowered her beak to the glass and touched it gently with her closed beak. Through the cold glass, on her side, there was nothing. On the octopus's side, perhaps a great deal.

Mkono ulibaki kwa dakika moja ndefu. Kisha ulishuka tena ndani ya maji.

The arm stayed for one long minute. Then it slid back into the water.

Chiara aliingia na kahawa mbili. "Unaondoka," alisema. "Nilifikiria hili lingetokea. Safiri salama. Rudi unapoweza."

Chiara came in with two coffees. "You are leaving," she said. "I imagined this would happen. Travel safely. Come back when you can."

Polly aliondoka kwenye ukingo. Aliruka nje kupitia korido ndefu ya taasisi, akapita kwenye sardi na kelp, na nje kwenye asubuhi angavu ya Villa Comunale. Ghuba ya Naples ilifunguka mbele yake.

Polly lifted off the rim. She flew out down the long corridor of the institute, past the sardines and the kelp, and out into the bright morning of the Villa Comunale. The Bay of Naples opened in front of her.