Majira ya Saa

Asubuhi ya nne, treni ilikuwa mahali fulani magharibi mwa Novosibirsk. Polly alikagua saa ndogo juu ya mlango wa chumba. Ilionyesha 06:30. Saa hiyo haikubadilishwa tangu Moscow. Ratiba zote za Trans-Siberian zinatumia saa za Moscow, kwa urefu wote wa njia, kwa siku saba na kanda za saa saba. Huwezi kuendesha reli kwa kilomita elfu nane ikiwa kila kituo kina saa tofauti.

On the fourth morning, the train was somewhere west of Novosibirsk. Polly checked the small clock above the compartment door. It read 06:30. The clock had not been changed since Moscow. All Trans-Siberian timetables run on Moscow time, the whole length of the line, for seven days and seven time zones. You cannot run a railway across eight thousand kilometres if every station has a different watch.

Hata hivyo, saa za eneo nje ya dirisha zilikuwa karibu 10:30. Jua lilikuwa limechomoza kwa saa sita.

Local time outside the window, however, was about 10:30. The sun had been up for six hours.

Tofauti hii kati ya saa za treni na saa za nje, kondakta alisema, ilikuwa moja ya changamoto ndogo za kiakili za safari. Kufikia Vladivostok saa ya treni ingesema kitu kimoja na jua la eneo lingesema kitu tofauti kwa saa saba.

This dislocation between train-time and outside-time was, the conductor had said, one of the small mental challenges of the journey. By Vladivostok the train clock would say one thing and the local sun would say something seven hours different.

Polly aliruka chini na akaenda kuchunguza.

Polly hopped down and went exploring.

Gari la kulia chakula lilikuwa magari matatu mbele. Kila gari lilikuwa handaki refu lenye paneli za mbao. Makondakta waliovaa sare za kijani walikaa na miguu juu wakisoma magazeti kati ya vituo. Hawakuonekana kushangaa kumuona kasuku. Treni ilikuwa imeona mambo.

The dining car was three carriages down. Each carriage was a long wood-panelled tunnel. The conductors in green uniforms sat with their feet up reading newspapers between station stops. They did not look surprised to see a parrot. The train had seen things.

Gari la kulia chakula lilikuwa limepakwa rangi nyekundu iliyofifia nje, bluu hafifu ndani. Mapazia mazito ya lace. Vibanda vya mbao. Jikoni ndogo mwisho wa mbali. Polly alikaa kwenye kibanda tupu karibu na dirisha.

The dining car was painted faded red outside, pale blue inside. Heavy lace curtains. Wooden booths. A small kitchen at the far end. Polly perched at the empty booth by the window.

Mhudumu aliyevaa koti kubwa kidogo alitokea na menyu kwa Kirusi, Kiingereza, na Kichina. Borscht. Pelmeni. Caviar ya salmoni. Mhudumu alichukua menyu, kisha akarudi na sahani ndogo kwenye urefu wa Polly: mkate, siagi, na sill herring.

A waiter in a slightly too-large jacket appeared with a menu in Russian, English, and Chinese. Borscht. Pelmeni. Salmon caviar. The waiter took the menu back, then returned with a small plate at Polly's height: bread, butter, and dark herring.

"Zawadi kutoka jikoni," alisema kwa Kiingereza.

"Compliments of the kitchen," he said in English.

Sill herring ilikuwa imehifadhiwa kwa chumvi na ilikuwa na harufu kali. Mkate ulikuwa na uchachu kidogo kutoka kwa uvundikaji wa siku tatu. Siagi haikuwa na chumvi. Mchanganyiko huo ulikuwa kitu ambacho Warusi wamekuwa wakila kwenye treni za masafa marefu kwa miaka mia na ishirini.

The herring was salt-cured and pungent. The bread had a faint sourness from three days of fermentation. The butter was unsalted. The combination was a thing Russians had been eating on long-distance trains for a hundred and twenty years.

Nje ya dirisha, taiga ilikuwa imepungua na kuwa nyasi za wazi za juu. Kundi la ng'ombe lilikuwa likila karibu na nyumba ndogo ya mbao. Mtu mmoja kwenye baiskeli alikuwa akisubiri kwenye kivuko cha reli.

Outside the window, the taiga had thinned into high open grassland. A herd of cows grazed near a small wooden house. A man on a bicycle waited at a level crossing.