Nitko ne zna koliko ih je

Onda je malo niže na stubištu još netko. Lisica sa žutom zaštitnom kacigom penje se odozdo sa sklopivim metrom i bilježnicom, zastaje na svakoj stubi, mjeri joj visinu i zapisuje broj. Polly se skloni na izbočinu i propusti je. Traje dugo. Stuba je jako mnogo.

Then, further down, there is somebody else on the staircase. A fox in a yellow hard hat is working her way up from below with a folding rule and a notebook, stopping at every step, measuring the height of it, writing the number down. Polly moves aside to a ledge and lets her pass. It takes a long time. There are a great many steps.

To mjerenje nije cjepidlačenje. Stube su usječene ručno i nema dviju jednakih, i upravo ih zato vrijedi zabilježiti. Neke su visoke kao debela knjiga. Neke su jedva rub. Širina cijelog usjeka mijenja se usput, mjestimice uska kao vrata, drugdje šira od stola, jer je onaj tko ga je napravio slijedio stijenu, a ne nacrt.

The measuring is not fussiness. The steps were cut by hand, and no two are the same, which is exactly why they are worth recording. Some are the height of a thick book. Some are barely a lip. The width of the whole cut changes as it goes, narrow as a doorway in places and wider than a table in others, because whoever made it was following the rock rather than a drawing.

Ovo je dio koji se Polly najviše sviđa. Nitko nije posve siguran koliko stuba ima. Nacionalni registar kulturne baštine kaže sto osamdeset sedam. Gradski turistički ured kaže sto osamdeset devet. Oba su podatka službena. Oba su objavljena. I godinama mirno stoje jedan nasuprot drugome.

Here is the part Polly likes best. Nobody is quite sure how many steps there are. The national heritage register says one hundred and eighty seven. The town's own tourist office says one hundred and eighty nine. Both are official. Both are published. They have been sitting there disagreeing with each other for years.

Gleda kako lisica stiže na vrh, proteže leđa i počinje pisati. Negdje u toj bilježnici broj se opet utvrđuje, barem zasad. Polly pogleda niz dugi prorez izlizanog kamena i odluči da vjeruje onom broju koji je veći, jer se čini da ih je više kad se penješ.

She watches the fox reach the top, stretch her back, and start writing. Somewhere in that notebook the number is being settled again, for now. Polly looks down the long slot of worn stone and decides she believes whichever number is larger, on the grounds that it feels like more when you are climbing.