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第5章 The Old Man and the Big Fish（第2页）

“Yourefeelingitnow，fish，”

hesaid.“Andso，Godknows，amI.”

Helookedaroundforthebirdnowbecausehewouldhavelikedhimforcompany.Thebirdwasgone.

Youdidnotstaylong，themanthought.Butitisrougherwhereyouaregoinguntilyoumaketheshore.HowdidIletthefishcutmewiththatonequickpullhemade?Imustbegettingverystupid.OrperhapsIwaslookingatthesmallbirdandthinkingofhim.NowIwillpayattentiontomyworkandthenImusteatthetunasothatIwillnothaveafailureofstrength.

“IwishtheboywerehereandthatIhadsomesalt，”

hesaidaloud.

Shiftingtheweightofthelinetohisleftshoulderandkneelingcarefullyhewashedhishandintheoceanandhelditthere，submerged，formorethanaminutewatchingthebloodtrailawayandthesteadymovementofthewateragainsthishandastheboatmoved.

“Hehasslowedmuch，”

hesaid.

Theoldmanwouldhavelikedtokeephishandinthesaltwaterlongerbuthewasafraidofanothersuddenlurchbythefishandhestoodupandbracedhimselfandheldhishandupagainstthesun.Itwasonlyalineburnthathadcuthisflesh.Butitwasintheworkingpartofhishand.Heknewhewouldneedhishandsbeforethiswasoverandhedidnotliketobecutbeforeitstarted.

“Now，”

hesaid，whenhishandhaddried，“Imusteatthesmalltuna.Icanreachhimwiththegaffandeathimhereincomfort.”

Hekneltdownandfoundthetunaunderthesternwiththegaffanddrewittowardhimkeepingitclearofthecoiledlines.Holdingthelinewithhisleftshoulderagain，andbracingonhislefthandandarm，hetookthetunaoffthegaffhookandputthegaffbackinplace.Heputonekneeonthefishandcutstripsofdarkredmeatlongitudinallyfromthebackoftheheadtothetail.Theywerewedge-shapedstripsandhecutthemfromnexttothebackbonedowntotheedgeofthebelly.Whenhehadcutsixstripshespreadthemoutonthewoodofthebow，wipedhisknifeonhistrousers，andliftedthecarcassofthebonitobythetailanddroppeditoverboard.

“IdontthinkIcaneatanentireone，”

hesaidanddrewhisknifeacrossoneofthestrips.Hecouldfeelthesteadyhardpullofthelineandhislefthandwascramped.Itdrewuptightontheheavycordandhelookedatitindisgust.

“Whatkindofahandisthat，”

hesaid.“Crampthenifyouwant.Makeyourselfintoaclaw.Itwilldoyounogood.”

Comeon，hethoughtandlookeddownintothedarkwaterattheslantoftheline.Eatitnowanditwillstrengthenthehand.Itisnotthehandsfaultandyouhavebeenmanyhourswiththefish.Butyoucanstaywithhimforever.Eatthebonitonow.

Hepickedupapieceandputitinhismouthandcheweditslowly.Itwasnotunpleasant.

Chewitwell，hethought，andgetallthejuices.Itwouldnotbebadtoeatwithalittlelimeorwithlemonorwithsalt.“Howdoyoufeel，hand?”

heaskedthecrampedhandthatwasalmostasstiffasrigormortis.“Illeatsomemoreforyou.”

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.IfhewilljumpIcankillhim.Buthestaysdownforever.ThenIwillstaydownwithhimforever.

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

Helookedacrosstheseaandknewhowalonehewasnow.Buthecouldseetheprismsinthedeepdarkwaterandthelinestretchingaheadandthestrangeundulationofthecalm.Thecloudswerebuildingupnowforthetradewindandhelookedaheadandsawaflightofwildducksetchingthemselvesagainsttheskyoverthewater，thenblurring，thenetchingagainandheknewnomanwaseveraloneonthesea.