The Gathering on the Skerries

The boat out to the skerries takes less time than deciding to go. The rocks barely clear the water. Grey seals lay all over them in the shapes heavy animals make when they have finished swimming. They were not doing anything. That is what a haul-out is. In a week or two the first pups would arrive.

Sejlturen ud til skærene tager kortere tid end beslutningen om at tage af sted. Klipperne stikker knap op over vandet. Grå sæler lå ud over dem alle sammen i de former, tunge dyr laver, når de er færdige med at svømme. De lavede ikke noget. Det er præcis, hvad et hvilested er. Om en uge eller to ville de første unger komme.

Polly chose a bull near the edge. "How many are there in your family?" she asked. It is a question that means something in a guesthouse and nothing out here. He thought about it slowly. Everyone on this rock, he said at last, and everyone on the next one.

Polly valgte en han ude ved kanten. "Hvor mange er I i din familie?" spurgte hun. Det er et spørgsmål, der betyder noget på et pensionat og ingenting herude. Han tænkte langsomt over det. Alle på denne klippe, sagde han til sidst, og alle på den næste.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Almost certainly, he said. He had no way of knowing which ones. Orkney produces about twenty-two thousand grey seal pups a year. That is more than one in ten of every grey seal alive.

"Har du nogen brødre eller søstre?" Næsten helt sikkert, sagde han. Han havde ingen mulighed for at vide hvilke. Orkneyøerne får omkring toogtyve tusind gråsælunger om året. Det er mere end hver tiende gråsæl i live.

Polly tested a phrase. "I want to spend time with my family today." It sounded strange here. So she tried another. "Even though we live far apart, we always keep in touch with each other." That is nearer, the bull said, if keeping in touch can mean coming back and saying nothing.

Polly prøvede en sætning. "Jeg vil gerne bruge tid sammen med min familie i dag." Det lød mærkeligt her. Så prøvede hun en anden. "Selvom vi bor langt fra hinanden, holder vi altid kontakten." Den er tættere på, sagde hannen, hvis det at holde kontakten kan betyde at komme tilbage og ikke sige noget.