Ziwa Baikal

Polly aliamka asubuhi ya tano. Ulimwengu ulikuwa umejaa maji.

Polly woke on the fifth morning. The world had become water.

Treni ilikuwa ikikimbia kando ya Ziwa Baikal. Ziwa lilijaza dirisha lote. Maji yalikuwa ya bluu ya kina na kamilifu.

The train was running along Lake Baikal. The lake filled the whole window. The water was a deep, perfect blue.

Igor, mvuvi, alikuwa kwenye dirisha na daftari.

Igor, the fisherman, was at the window with a notebook.

"Baikal," alisema. "Ni ziwa lenye kina kirefu zaidi duniani. Kina urefu wa mita 1,642. Pia ni ziwa la zamani zaidi. Lina umri wa miaka milioni 25."

"Baikal," he said. "It is the deepest lake in the world. 1,642 metres deep. It is also the oldest lake. 25 million years old."

Maji yalikuwa safi sana kiasi kwamba Polly aliweza kuona mawe kwenye sakafu ya ziwa katika sehemu za kina kifupi.

The water was so clear that Polly could see rocks on the lake floor in the shallow places.

"Linashikilia asilimia 23 ya maji yote safi duniani ambayo hayajaganda," Igor alisema. "Zaidi ya maziwa yote makuu ya Amerika Kaskazini pamoja."

"It holds 23 percent of all the fresh water on Earth that is not frozen," Igor said. "More than all the Great Lakes in North America together."

Treni ilisimama kwenye kituo cha Slyudyanka. Igor alishuka. Alitikisa ncha ya bawa la Polly kwa vidole viwili. "Siku tatu za uvuvi. Kisha nyumbani." Alipunga mkono na akaondoka.

The train stopped at Slyudyanka station. Igor got off. He shook Polly's wing tip with two fingers. "Three days fishing. Then home." He waved and was gone.

Treni iliendelea kando ya ziwa kwa saa zingine tatu. Kundi la mihuri wa Baikal walitokea juu ya maji. Hao ndio mihuri pekee wa maji safi duniani.

The train ran along the lake for three more hours. A group of Baikal seals came up to the surface. They are the only freshwater seals in the world.

Polly alifikiria kuhusu kiasi cha maji kilichokuwa chini yake. Kijana kamba wa rangi ya waridi anaishi Baikal. Anasaidia kusafisha maji. Amefanya kazi hii kwa miaka milioni 20.

Polly thought about how much water was below her. A tiny pink shrimp lives in Baikal. It keeps the water clean. It has been doing this job for 20 million years.