Mwamba Ulioondoka

Chini zaidi bado, Polly anashuka na kukutana na jirani. Majini, karibu kabisa, kuna mnara mrefu wa mwamba hafifu. Mawimbi meupe yanavunjika kuzunguka sehemu yake ya chini. Watu wanauita Chembe ya Mchanga. Huo ni utani, kwa sababu ni mkubwa karibu kama kanisa dogo.

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.

Haukuwa pale siku zote. Takriban miaka mia nane iliyopita ulikuwa sehemu ya genge hili. Kisha mawimbi yakaondoa mwamba uliokuwa chini yake, na mnara ukabaki peke yake baharini. Polly anautazama. Ni mwembamba zaidi chini kuliko juu. Bahari bado inaufanyia kazi.

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.

Shakwe anaruka kumpita. Huyu ni maalum. Si mmoja wa shakwe wenye kelele wanaofuata mashua na kuchukua chakula cha watu. Huyu ni shakwe wa Audouin. Hachukui kamwe chakula cha wanyama wengine. Anavua samaki wake mwenyewe baharini mbali.

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.

Shakwe anaruka mbali juu ya maji hadi Polly hawezi kumwona tena. Anatazama tena mwamba mrefu, na nafasi kati yake na genge. Nafasi hiyo zamani ilikuwa jiwe gumu.

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.