Rainy Morning at Dolac Market

Subotnje jutro bilo je vlažno i mirisalo je na kišu, ali odlučila sam ipak otići na Dolac po sve što mi treba za ručak.

Saturday morning was damp and smelled of rain, but I decided to go to Dolac anyway for everything I needed for lunch.

Dok su se štandovi tek budili, prodavači su se dovikivali preko sanduka rajčica i tikvica, a ja sam već u glavi slagala popis koji mi se, kao i obično, počeo širiti.

As the stalls were just waking up, vendors were calling to each other over crates of tomatoes and zucchinis, and I was already assembling a list in my head that, as usual, had begun to expand.

Kraj bake s domaćim sirom i vrhnjem zaustavila sam se jer me podsjetila na mamin glas: 'Uzmi onaj koji miriše na travu, takav se topi u štruklima'.

I stopped by the granny selling homemade cheese and cream because she reminded me of my mother's voice: 'Take the one that smells of grass; that kind melts in štrukli'.

Dala mi je da probam komadić, pa kad mi se razvučeno kiselo-slano svidjelo, uzela sam cijelu kocku i prešutno pristala na cijenu koja je, znala sam, uključivala i priču.

She let me taste a piece, and when I liked the stretchy sour-salty bite, I took a whole block and silently agreed to a price that, I knew, also included a story.

Na ribarnici je kartica, naravno, 'upravo pala', pa sam iz džepa izvukla sitniš i, nakon oklijevanja, ipak kupila dvije orade, iako sam planirala samo povrće.

At the fish market the card terminal had, of course, 'just gone down', so I pulled small change from my pocket and, after hesitating, still bought two sea bream, even though I had planned on only vegetables.

Jedan prodavač trešanja, onaj s kapom koja je izgledala kao da je preživjela tri berbe, zavikao je da mu ne bježim jer mi duguje kusur.

A cherry seller, the one with the cap that looked like it had survived three harvests, shouted for me not to run off because he owed me change.

Vratio mi je tri eura, namignuo i rekao kako se na tržnici sve vraća onome tko gleda ljudima u oči, pa sam mu, smijući se, uzela i malu vrećicu žutih ranih trešanja.

He handed me back three euros, winked, and said that at the market everything comes back to the one who looks people in the eye, so, laughing, I also took a small bag of early yellow cherries from him.

Cjenkala sam se za rajčice koje su se sjajile kao lakirani ukrasi, i tek kad mi je prodavačica tiho priznala da su iz staklenika, spustila je cijenu za jedan osmijeh.

I haggled over tomatoes that gleamed like lacquered ornaments, and only when the seller quietly admitted they were from a greenhouse did she lower the price by one smile.

Sunce je na trenutak provirilo između oblaka, a meni su vrećice već rezale prste, no nisam mogla odoljeti gladi koja me, još od tramvaja, gurkala prema štandu s pogačicama od čvaraka.

The sun peeked out from the clouds for a moment, and the bags were already cutting into my fingers, but I couldn't resist the hunger that, since the tram, had been nudging me toward the stand with pork crackling scones.

Kupila sam jednu 'za put', pa još jednu 'za susjedu', i shvatila kako je tržnica mjesto na kojemu potrošiš više novca nego što si planirao, ali dobiješ i više priča nego što možeš ponijeti.

I bought one 'for the road', then another 'for the neighbor', and realized the market is a place where you spend more money than you planned, but you also get more stories than you can carry.

Dok sam se spuštala niz stepenice s torbama što su zvonile staklenkama ajvara, pomislila sam da je to jedina kupovina nakon koje se, premda umorna, osjećaš bogatije.

As I was walking down the steps with bags that clinked with jars of ajvar, I thought it's the only kind of shopping after which, though tired, you feel richer.