Polly Meets Someone

The morning Polly arrived on Oak Street, the whole neighborhood smelled of fresh bread. Polly left two suitcases by the green door and greeted the first neighbor in sight: an enormous bear watering her geraniums. "Hello! My name is Polly. I arrived this morning."

Den morgen Polly kom til Egegade, duftede hele kvarteret af nybagt brød. Polly satte to kufferter fra sig ved den grønne dør og hilste på den første nabo, der var at se: en enorm bjørn, der vandede sine pelargonier. »Hej! Jeg hedder Polly. Jeg kom i morges.«

The bear wiped her paws on her apron and smiled. "I am Berta. I have lived here for twenty years." They talked for a good while by the fence: where Polly came from, what Polly did for a living, and why this street of all streets. "I teach languages," Polly explained. "I work from home, so we are going to see a lot of each other."

Bjørnen tørrede poterne af på forklædet og smilede. »Jeg er Berta. Jeg har boet her i tyve år.« Samtalen ved hegnet varede et godt stykke tid: hvor Polly kom fra, hvad Polly levede af, og hvorfor lige netop denne gade. »Jeg underviser i sprog,« forklarede Polly. »Jeg arbejder hjemmefra, så vi kommer til at se hinanden meget.«

When the sun was high, Berta pointed at the square at the end of the street. "There is a market tomorrow. If you want, I will show you where I buy my fruit." Polly accepted right away. "Nice to meet you, Berta. See you later!" And stepping into the new house, Polly thought that learning the neighbors' names was going to be the best possible start.

Da solen stod højt, pegede Berta mod pladsen for enden af gaden. »I morgen er der marked. Hvis du vil, viser jeg dig, hvor jeg køber min frugt.« Polly sagde ja med det samme. »Hyggeligt at møde dig, Berta. Vi ses!« Og idet Polly trådte ind i det nye hus, føltes det, som om at lære naboernes navne var den bedste begyndelse, der fandtes.