Goodbye to Pasta

On the seventh morning, Polly came down to the tank early. The lab was quiet. Chiara would not be in for another hour. The institute had been waking up like this every morning for one hundred and fifty-four years.

Na siedme ráno Polly prišla k nádrži skoro. Laboratórium bolo tiché. Chiara mala prísť až o hodinu. Ústav sa takto prebúdzal každé ráno už sto päťdesiatštyri rokov.

Pasta was at the front of the tank.

Cestoviny boli vpredu pri nádrži.

This was not normal. For six mornings, Polly had perched on the rim and the octopus had been folded in her pipe, or drifting in a corner. Today the octopus was pressed against the front wall, all eight arms spread loosely against the glass, her single visible eye level with Polly's.

To nebolo normálne. Šesť rán Polly sedela na okraji a chobotnica bola zložená vo svojej rúre alebo sa vznášala v kúte. Dnes bola chobotnica pritlačená k prednej stene, všetkých osem ramien rozprestretých voľne proti sklu, jej jediné viditeľné oko na úrovni Polly.

They looked at each other.

Pozreli sa na seba.

What passes between a parrot and a giant Pacific octopus is probably not friendship. The octopus might simply have been investigating the warm-blooded creature that had been around her tank for six days. Octopuses can read warmth through their skin. They can read movement through their suckers. They were collecting information.

Čo prechádza medzi papagájom a obrovskou tichomorskou chobotnicou, pravdepodobne nie je priateľstvo. Chobotnica možno len skúmala teplokrvného tvora, ktorý bol okolo jej nádrže šesť dní. Chobotnice dokážu cez svoju kožu cítiť teplo. Dokážu vnímať pohyb cez svoje prísavky. Zbierali informácie.

Polly hopped along the rim. The octopus's eye tracked her, then her arms shifted slowly to follow. When Polly stopped, the eye stopped.

Polly poskakovala po okraji. Oko chobotnice ju sledovalo, potom sa jej ramená pomaly posunuli, aby ju nasledovali. Keď Polly zastavila, oko zastavilo.

For seven full minutes they watched each other. The water filter hummed softly.

Sedem celých minút sa na seba pozerali. Vodný filter jemne bzučal.

Then the octopus did something Polly had not seen her do all week. She unfurled one arm slowly and pressed the very tip of it against the glass exactly opposite where Polly's foot was resting. The suckers spread, then stilled.

Potom chobotnica urobila niečo, čo Polly celý týždeň nevidela. Pomaly rozvinula jedno rameno a pritlačila jeho koniec na sklo presne oproti miestu, kde odpočívala Pollyina noha. Prísavky sa rozšírili, potom zastavili.

Polly lowered her beak to the glass and touched it gently with her closed beak. Through the cold glass, on her side, there was nothing. On the octopus's side, perhaps a great deal.

Polly sklonila svoj zobák k sklu a jemne ho dotkla zatvoreným zobákom. Cez studené sklo, na jej strane, nebolo nič. Na strane chobotnice možno veľa.

The arm stayed for one long minute. Then it slid back into the water.

Rameno zostalo jednu dlhú minútu. Potom sa vrátilo späť do vody.

Chiara came in with two coffees. "You are leaving," she said. "I imagined this would happen. Travel safely. Come back when you can."

Chiara prišla s dvoma kávami. "Odchádzaš," povedala. "Predstavovala som si, že sa to stane. Cestuj bezpečne. Vráť sa, keď môžeš."

Polly lifted off the rim. She flew out down the long corridor of the institute, past the sardines and the kelp, and out into the bright morning of the Villa Comunale. The Bay of Naples opened in front of her.

Polly sa zdvihla z okraja. Odletela dole dlhým koridorom ústavu, okolo sardiniek a chalúh, a von do jasného rána Villa Comunale. Pred ňou sa otvoril Neapolský záliv.