Nihče ne ve, koliko jih je

Potem je nekoliko niže na stopnišču še nekdo. Lisica z rumeno zaščitno čelado se z zložljivim metrom in beležnico vzpenja od spodaj, ustavi se pri vsaki stopnici, izmeri njeno višino in zapiše številko. Polly se umakne na polico in jo spusti mimo. Traja dolgo. Stopnic je zelo veliko.

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.

Merjenje ni pikolovstvo. Stopnice so bile vsekane ročno in nobeni dve nista enaki, prav zato jih je vredno zabeležiti. Nekatere so visoke kot debela knjiga. Druge so komaj rob. Širina celotnega useka se sproti spreminja, ponekod je ozek kot vrata, drugod širši od mize, ker je tisti, ki ga je naredil, sledil skali in ne načrtu.

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.

Tole je del, ki je Polly najljubši. Nihče ni čisto prepričan, koliko stopnic je. Državni register kulturne dediščine pravi sto sedeminosemdeset. Mestni turistični urad pravi sto devetinosemdeset. Oba podatka sta uradna. Oba sta objavljena. In že leta si mirno nasprotujeta.

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.

Opazuje, kako lisica pride na vrh, si pretegne hrbet in začne pisati. Nekje v tej beležnici se številka znova določa, vsaj za zdaj. Polly pogleda navzdol po dolgi reži obrabljenega kamna in se odloči, da verjame tisti številki, ki je večja, saj se zdi, da jih je več, ko plezaš.

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.