Grad na samom rubu

Prvo dolazi vjetar. Polly leti prema jugu uz obalu Korzike dok otok ne završi. Pred njom je otvoreno more, a daleko još jedan otok, nizak i plav. To je Sardinija. More između njih zove se Bonifacijev tjesnac, i kroz njega puše jak vjetar.

The wind comes first. Polly flies south along the coast of Corsica until the island ends. In front of her there is open water, and far away another island, low and blue. That is Sardinia. The water between them is called the Strait of Bonifacio, and the wind blows hard through it.

Okrene se i ugleda grad. Stoji na bijeloj litici, točno na rubu. Kuće su visoke i uske, sa zatvorenim škurama. Onda Polly primijeti nešto čudno. Na dnu zidova nema nikakvog razmaka. Kamen kuća ide ravno u kamen litice. A litica pada otprilike sedamdeset metara dolje do mora.

She turns back and sees the town. It stands on a white cliff, right at the edge. The houses are tall and narrow, with closed shutters. Then Polly notices something strange. There is no space at the bottom of the walls. The stone of the houses goes straight into the stone of the cliff. And the cliff falls about seventy meters down to the sea.

Polly sleti na stare gradske zidine i pogleda dolje. Stijena je blijeda i suha. Duboko ispod nje galebovi lete u krugovima. Onda ugleda nešto neobično. Netko je u liticu usjekao usku crtu, a u njoj su stube.

Polly lands on the old town wall and looks down. The rock is pale and dry. Gulls fly in circles far below her. Then she sees something strange. Someone has cut a narrow line into the cliff, and inside it there are steps.

Pokušava ih prebrojiti, ali svjetlo već nestaje. Stube idu sve dublje dolje u sjenu. Dolje more udara o stijenu. Polly pomisli: idem tamo dolje.

She tries to count them, but the light is going. The steps go down and down into shadow. The sea moves against the rock below. Polly thinks: I am going down there.