Vladivostok

Asubuhi ya saba, treni ilitarajiwa kufika Vladivostok saa 06:15 kwa saa za Moscow, ambayo ilikuwa saa 13:15 kwa saa za huko. Polly aliamka mwanga wa kwanza wa huko, karibu saa kumi na moja alfajiri.

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.

Kupitia dirishani, msitu ulikuwa umebadilika na kuwa milima midogo na nyasi. Bahari ya Pasifiki ilikuwa mbele. Aliihisi, jinsi unavyoweza kuhisi mwili mkubwa wa maji kabla ya kuuona.

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.

Kituo cha mwisho kabla ya Vladivostok kilikuwa Ussuriysk. Treni ilisimama kwa dakika kumi na tano. Polly alishuka. Mwanamke mmoja alikuwa akiuza samaki wa kuvuta moshi kutoka kwenye meza inayokunjwa. Samaki walikuwa na rangi ya fedha. Macho yao yalikuwa bado wazi. Polly alionja kipande kidogo. Mwanamke alimfunga kwenye gazeti na hakukubali malipo. Masoko mengine hufanya kazi hivi.

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.

Bahari ya Pasifiki ilionekana upande wa kulia wa treni karibu saa tano za huko. Ilikuwa kijivu na angavu.

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

Vladivostok ilifika ghafla. Mji umejengwa kwenye milima inayoshuka hadi baharini. Treni hupita kwenye handaki moja ya milima hiyo. Mwisho wa reli uko bandarini. Kizuizi mwishoni mwa reli ni mita arobaini kutoka kwenye maji.

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.

Treni ilifanya kituo chake cha mwisho. Saa juu ya mlango wa chumba, ikiwa kwenye saa za Moscow kwa siku saba, ilisoma 06:23. Saa ya huko kwenye kituo ilisoma 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 aliruka hadi kwenye jukwaa. Vladivostok ulikuwa mji wa bandari wenye majengo ya mawe ya chini na mitaa mikali. Hewa ilinukia samaki, kutu, na chumvi.

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.

Mwisho wa jukwaa kulikuwa na mnara mdogo mweupe. Maandishi yalisema KILOMITA 9,289. Mwisho wa reli.

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

Polly alisimama kwenye mnara kwa dakika moja ndefu. Siku saba. Miaka nusu bilioni ya miamba ya Ural. Miaka milioni ishirini na tano ya Baikal. Korongo moja. Kanda za saa nane, ambazo treni ilizingatia moja tu.

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.

Alinyosha mabawa yake. Bahari ya Pasifiki ilikuwa tu nyuma ya ukuta wa bandari. Alipaa kutoka jukwaani, akapanda juu ya korongo za bandari ya mizigo, na nje juu ya ghuba.

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.