Stijena koja je otišla

Još niže Polly upozna susjeda. U vodi, sasvim blizu, stoji visok toranj blijede stijene. Oko njegova dna razbijaju se bijeli valovi. Ljudi ga zovu Zrno pijeska. To je šala, jer je velik gotovo kao mala crkva.

Further down still, Polly goes down and meets a neighbour. Out in the water, quite close, there is a tall tower of pale rock. White waves break around the bottom of it. People call it the Grain of Sand. That is a joke, because it is about as big as a small church.

Nije uvijek bio ondje vani. Prije otprilike osamsto godina bio je dio ove litice. Onda su valovi odnijeli stijenu ispod njega i toranj je ostao sam u moru. Polly ga gleda. Dolje je tanji nego gore. More još uvijek radi na njemu.

It was not always out there. About eight hundred years ago it was part of this cliff. Then the waves took away the rock underneath, and the tower was left alone in the sea. Polly looks at it. It is thinner at the bottom than at the top. The sea is still working on it.

Pokraj nje proleti galeb. Ovaj je poseban. Nije jedan od bučnih galebova koji prate brodove i uzimaju hranu od ljudi. Ovo je Audouinov galeb. Nikad ne uzima hranu drugim životinjama. Sam lovi ribu na otvorenom moru.

A gull flies past her. This one is special. It is not one of the noisy gulls that follow boats and take food from people. This is an Audouin's gull. It never takes food from other animals. It catches its own fish out at sea.

Galeb odleti nad vodom dok ga Polly više ne vidi. Ona opet pogleda visoku stijenu i prostor između nje i litice. Taj prostor je nekoć bio čvrsti kamen.

The gull flies away over the water until Polly cannot see it. She looks again at the tall rock, and at the space between it and the cliff. That space was once solid stone.