Slatka voda podno morske litice

Posljednji dio stubišta je drukčiji. Stijena prestaje biti suha. Pod njezinim nogama postaje tamnija i hladnija, osjeća se miris mokrog kamena, a svjetlo koje se odbija od vode baca pokretne crte po stropu niske špilje na dnu.

The last stretch of the staircase is different. The rock stops being dry. It goes darker and cooler under her feet, and there is a smell of wet stone, and the light coming up off the water throws moving lines across the ceiling of a low cave at the bottom.

I ondje, u razini mora, samo nekoliko stuba od slane vode, iz stijene izvire slatka voda. Polly prinese kljun. Hladna je i slatka i nikako ne bi smjela biti tu, a ipak je razlog svemu što se uzdiže iznad Polly.

And there, at the level of the sea, with salt water a few steps away, fresh water is coming out of the rock. Polly puts her beak to it. It is cold and it is sweet and it is entirely wrong, and it is the reason for everything above her.

Evo kako to ide. Tlo na vrhu litice je vapnenac, a kiša ne otječe s vapnenca onako kako otječe s druge stijene. Ona ponire. Pronalazi pukotine, širi ih i putuje dolje kroz unutrašnjost kamena, a budući da je slatka voda lakša od morske, može stići sve do podnožja litice i doći još uvijek slatka, točno na razinu mora, prije nego što se more stigne pomiješati s njom.

It works like this. The land on top of the cliff is limestone, and rain does not run off limestone the way it runs off other rock. It sinks. It finds cracks and widens them and travels down through the inside of the stone, and because fresh water is lighter than sea water it can come all the way to the bottom of the cliff and arrive still fresh, right at the water line, before the sea gets a chance to mix with it.

Sada stubište ima smisla. Ne vojnici i ne jedna noć. Najvjerojatnije redovnici, koji su godinama strpljivo klesali prema dolje, prema izvoru za koji su znali da je ondje, jer grad na vrhu litice može imati zidine i kule i pogled na cijeli tjesnac, a ipak izgubiti sve zbog nedostatka gutljaja vode.

So now the staircase makes sense. Not soldiers, and not one night. Monks, most likely, cutting patiently downward over years toward a spring they knew was there, because a town on top of a cliff can have walls and towers and a view over the whole strait and still lose everything for the want of a drink of water.