The Gathering on the Skerries

The boat to the rocks is short. The rocks are low and wet. Grey seals lay all over them. They were not doing anything.

Plavba k skalám je krátka. Skaly sú nízke a mokré. Ležali na nich tulene sivé. Nerobili nič.

Polly chose a big seal. "How many are there in your family?" she asked. He thought for a long time. Everyone on this rock, he said. And everyone on the next one.

Polly si vybrala veľkého tuleňa. "Koľko vás je v rodine?" spýtala sa. Dlho premýšľal. Všetci na tejto skale, povedal. A všetci na tej vedľajšej.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Almost certainly, he said. He did not know which ones. Orkney has about twenty-two thousand seal pups every year.

"Máte bratov alebo sestry?" Takmer určite, povedal. Nevedel, ktorí to sú. Na Orknejách sa každý rok narodí asi dvadsaťdvatisíc tuleních mláďat.

Polly tried a phrase. "I want to spend time with my family today." It sounded strange here. Then she tried, "Even though we live far apart, we always keep in touch with each other." That is closer, the seal said.

Polly skúsila vetu. "Dnes chcem stráviť čas s rodinou." Tu to znelo zvláštne. Potom skúsila: "Aj keď bývame ďaleko od seba, vždy zostávame v kontakte." To je bližšie, povedal tuleň.