笔趣阁

第5章 The Old Man and the Big Fish（第2页）

Heatetheotherpartofthepiecethathehadcutintwo.Hecheweditcarefullyandthenspatouttheskin.

“Howdoesitgo，hand?Orisittooearlytoknow?”

Hetookanotherfullpieceandchewedit.

“Itisastrongfull-bloodedfish，”hethought.“Iwasluckytogethiminsteadofdolphin.Dolphinistoosweet.Thisishardlysweetatallandallthestrengthisstillinit.”

Thereisnosenseinbeinganythingbutpracticalthough，hethought.IwishIhadsomesalt.AndIdonotknowwhetherthesunwillrotordrywhatisleft，soIhadbettereatitallalthoughIamnothungry.Thefishiscalmandsteady.IwilleatitallandthenIwillbeready.

“Bepatient，hand，”hesaid“，Idothisforyou.”

IwishIcouldfeedthefish，hethought.Heismybrother.ButImustkillhimandkeepstrongtodoit.Slowlyandconscientiouslyheateallofthewedge-shapedstripsoffish.

Hestraightenedup，wipinghishandonhistrousers.

“Now，”hesaid.“Youcanletthecordgo，hand，andIwillhandlehimwiththerightarmaloneuntilyoustopthatnonsense.”Heputhisleftfootontheheavylinethatthelefthandhadheldandlaybackagainstthepullagainsthisback.“Godhelpmetohavethecrampgo，”hesaid.“BecauseIdonotknowwhatthefishisgoingtodo.”

Butheseemscalm，hethought，andfollowinghisplan.Butwhatishisplan，hethought.Andwhatismine?MineImustimprovisetohisbecauseofhisgreatsize.IfhewilljumpIcankillhiButhestaysdownforever.ThenIwillstaydownwithhimforever.

Herubbedthecrampedhandagainsthistrousersandtriedtogentlethefingers.Butitwouldnotopen.Maybeitwillopenwiththesun，hethought，Maybeitwillopenwhenthestrongrawtunaisdigested.IfIhavetohaveit，Iwillopenit，costwhateveritcosts.ButIdonotwanttoopenitnowbyforce.Letitopenbyitselfandcomebackofitsownaccord.AfterallIabuseditmuchinthenightwhenitisnecessarytofreeandunitethevariouslines.

Helookedacrosstheseaandknewhowalonehewasnow.ButhecouldseetheprismsinthedeepdarkwaterandthelinestretchingaheadandthestrangeundulationofthecalThecloudswerebuildingupnowforthetradewindandhelookedaheadandsawaflightofwildducksetchingthemselvesagainsttheskyoverthewater，thenblurring，thenetchingagainandheknewnomanwaseveraloneonthesea.

Hethoughtofhowsomemenfearedbeingoutofsightoflandinasmallboatandknewtheywererightinthemonthsofsuddenbadweather.Butnowtheywereinhurricanemonthsand，whentherearenohurricanes，theweatherofhurricanemonthsisthebestofalltheyear.

Ifthereisahurricaneyoualwaysseethesignsofitintheskyfordaysahead，ifyouareatsea.Theydonotseeitashorebecausetheydonotknowwhattolookfor，hethought.Thelandmustmakeadifferencetoo，intheshapeoftheclouds.Butwehavenohurricanecomingnow.

HelookedattheskyandsawthewhitecumulusbuiltlikefriendlypilesoficecreamandhighabovewerethethinfeathersofthecirrusagainstthehighSeptembersky.

“Lightbrisa，”hesaid.“Betterweatherformethanforyou，fish.”

Hislefthandwasstillcramped，buthewasunknottingitslowly.

Ihateacramp，hethought.Itisatreacheryofonesownbody.Itishumiliatingbeforeotherstohaveadiarrhoeafromptomainepoisoningortovomitfromit.Butacramp，hethoughtofitasacalambre，humiliatesoneselfespeciallywhenoneisalone.

Iftheboywereherehecouldrubitformeandloosenitdownfromtheforearm，hethought.Butitwillloosenup.

Then，withhisrighthandhefeltthedifferenceinthepullofthelinebeforehesawtheslantchangeinthewater.Then，asheleanedagainstthelineandslappedhislefthandhardandfastagainsthisthighhesawthelineslantingslowlyupward.

“Hescomingup，”hesaid.“Comeonhand.Pleasecomeon.”

Thelineroseslowlyandsteadilyandthenthesurfaceoftheoceanbulgedaheadoftheboatandthefishcameout.Hecameoutunendinglyandwaterpouredfromhissides.Hewasbrightinthesunandhisheadandbackweredarkpurpleandinthesunthestripesonhissidesshowedwideandalightlavender.Hisswordwasaslongasabaseballbatandtaperedlikearapierandherosehisfulllengthfromthewaterandthenre-enteredit，smoothly，likeadiverandtheoldmansawthegreatscythe-bladeofhistailgounderandthelinecommencedtoraceout.

“Heistwofeetlongerthantheskiff，”theoldmansaid.Thelinewasgoingoutfastbutsteadilyandthefishwasnotpanicked.Theoldmanwastryingwithbothhandstokeepthelinejustinsideofbreakingstrength.Heknewthatifhecouldnotslowthefishwithasteadypressurethefishcouldtakeoutallthelineandbreakit.

HeisagreatfishandImustconvincehim，hethought.Imustneverlethimlearnhisstrengthnorwhathecoulddoifhemadehisrun.IfIwerehimIwouldputineverythingnowandgountilsomethingbroke.But，thankGod，theyarenotasintelligentaswewhokillthem;althoughtheyaremorenobleandmoreable.

Theoldmanhadseenmanygreatfish.Hehadseenmanythatweighedmorethanathousandpoundsandhehadcaughttwoofthatsizeinhislife，butneveralone.Nowalone，andoutofsightofland，hewasfasttothebiggestfishthathehadeverseenandbiggerthanhehadeverheardof，andhislefthandwasstillastightasthegrippedclawsofaneagle.

Itwilluncrampthough，hethought.Surelyitwilluncramptohelpmyrighthand.Therearethreethingsthatarebrothers:thefishandmytwohands.Itmustuncramp.Itisunworthyofittobecramped.Thefishhadslowedagainandwasgoingathisusualpace.

Iwonderwhyhejumped，theoldmanthought.Hejumpedalmostasthoughtoshowmehowbighewas.Iknownow，anyway，hethought.IwishIcouldshowhimwhatsortofmanIaButthenhewouldseethecrampedhand.LethimthinkIammoremanthanIamandIwillbeso.IwishIwasthefish，hethought，witheverythinghehasagainstonlymywillandmyintelligence.

Hesettledcomfortablyagainstthewoodandtookhissufferingasitcameandthefishswamsteadilyandtheboatmovedslowlythroughthedarkwater.Therewasasmallsearisingwiththewindcomingupfromtheeastandatnoontheoldmanslefthandwasuncramped.

“Badnewsforyoufish，”hesaidandshiftedthelineoverthesacksthatcoveredhisshoulders.

Hewascomfortablebutsuffering，althoughhedidnotadmitthesufferingatall.

“Iamnotreligious，”hesaid.“ButIwillsaytenOurFathersandtenHailMarysthatIshouldcatchthisfish，andIpromisetomakeapilgrimagetotheVirgindeCobreifIcatchhiThatisapromise.”

Hecommencedtosayhisprayersmechanically.Sometimeshewouldbesotiredthathecouldnotremembertheprayerandthenhewouldsaythemfastsothattheywouldcomeautomatically.HailMarysareeasiertosaythanOurFathers，hethought.

“HailMaryfullofGracetheLordiswiththee.Blessedartthouamongwomenandblessedisthefruitofthywomb，Jesus.HolyMary.MotherofGod，prayforussinnersnowandatthehourofourdeath.Amen.”Thenheadded，“BlessedVirgin，prayforthedeathofthisfish.Wonderfulthoughheis.”

Withhisprayerssaid，andfeelingmuchbetter，butsufferingexactlyasmuch，andperhapsalittlemore，heleanedagainstthewoodofthebowandbegan，mechanically，toworkthefingersofhislefthand.

Thesunwashotnowalthoughthebreezewasrisinggently.

“Ihadbetterre-baitthatlittlelineoutoverthestern，”hesaid.“IfthefishdecidestostayanothernightIwillneedtoeatagainandthewaterislowinthebottle.IdontthinkIcangetanythingbutadolphinhere.ButifIeathimfreshenoughhewontbebad.Iwishaflyingfishwouldcomeonboardtonight.ButIhavenolighttoattracttheAflyingfishisexcellenttoeatrawandIwouldnothavetocuthimup.Imustsaveallmystrengthnow.Christ，Ididnotknowhewassobig.”

“Illkillhimthough，”hesaid.“Inallhisgreatnessandhisglory.”

Althoughitisunjust，hethought.ButIwillshowhimwhatamancandoandwhatamanendures.

“ItoldtheboyIwasastrangeoldman，”hesaid.“NowiswhenImustproveit.”

Thethousandtimesthathehadproveditmeantnothing.Nowhewasprovingitagain.Eachtimewasanewtimeandheneverthoughtaboutthepastwhenhewasdoingit.

IwishhedsleepandIcouldsleepanddreamaboutthelions，hethought.Whyarethelionsthemainthingthatisleft?Dontthink，oldman，hesaidtohimself.Restgentlynowagainstthewoodandthinkofnothing.Heisworking.Workaslittleasyoucan.

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