第2章 Talking Before the Sea

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“Wak up old an,”th oy sad and put hs hand on on of th old an's kns.

Th old an opnd hs ys and for a ont h as cong ack fro a long ay aay.Thn h sld.

“What hav you got?”h askd.

“Suppr,”sad th oy.“ W'r gong to hav suppr.”

“I' not vry hungry.”

“Co on and at.You can't fsh and not at.”

“I hav,”th old an sad gttng up and takng th nspapr and foldng t.Thn h startd to fold th lankt.“Kp th lankt around you,”th oy sad.You'll not fsh thout atng hl I' alv.

“Thn lv a long t and tak car of yourslf,”th old an sad.“ What ar atng?”

“Black ans and rc,frd ananas,and so st.”

Th oy had rought th n a to-dckr tal contanr fro th Trrac.Th to sts of knvs and forks and spoons r n hs pockt th a papr-napkn rappd around ach st.

“Who gav ths to you?”

“Martn.Th onr.”

“I ust thank h.”

“I thankd h alrady,”th oy sad.“You don't nd to thank h.”

“I'll gv h th lly at of a g fsh,”th old an sad.“ Has h don ths for us or than onc?”

“I thnk so.”

“I ust gv h sothng or than th lly at thn.H s vry thoughtful for us.”

“H snt to rs.”

“I lk th r n cans st.”

“I kno.But ths s n ottls,Hatuy r,and I tak ack th ottls.”

“That's vry knd of you,”th old an sad.“Should at?”

“I'v n askng you to,”th oy told h gntly.“I hav not shd to opn th contanr untl you r rady.”“I' rady no,”th old an sad.“ I only ndd t to ash.”

Whr dd you ash?Th oy thought.Th vllag atr supply as to strts don th road.I ust hav atr hr for h,th oy thought,and soap and a good tol.Why a I so thoughtlss? I ust gt h anothr shrt and a jackt for th ntr and so sort of shos and anothr lankt.

“Your st s xcllnt,”th old an sad.

“Tll aout th asall,”Th oy askd h.

“In th Arcan Lagu t s th Yanks as I sad,”th old an sad happly.

“Thy lost today,”th oy told h.

“That ans nothng.Th grat DMaggo s hslf agan.”

“Thy hav othr n on th ta.”

“Naturally.But h aks th dffrnc.In th othr lagu, tn Brooklyn and Phladlpha I ust tak Brooklyn.But thn I thnk of Dck Sslr and thos grat drvs n th old park.”

“Thr as nothng vr lk th.H hts th longst all I hav vr sn.”

“Do you rr hn h usd to co to th Trrac? I antd to tak h fshng ut I as too td to ask h.Thn I askd you to ask h and you r too td.”

“I kno.It as a grat stak.H ght hav gon th us.Thn ould hav that for all of our lvs.”

“I ould lk to tak th grat DMaggo fshng,”th old an sad.“ Thy say hs fathr as a fshran.May h as as poor as ar and ould undrstand.”

“Th grat Sslr's fathr as nvr poor and h,th fathr,as playng n th g lagus hn h as y ag.”

“Whn I as your ag I as for th ast on a squar rggd shp that ran to Afrca and I hav sn lons on th achs n th vnng.”

“I kno.You told .”

“Should talk aout Afrca or aout asall?”

“Basall I thnk,”th oy sad.“ Tll aout th grat John J.McGra.”H sad Jota for J.

“H usd to co to th Trrac sots too n th oldr days.But h as rough and harsh-spokn and dffcult hn h as drnkng.Hs nd as on horss as ll as asall.At last h carrd lsts of horss at all ts n hs pockt and frquntly spok th nas of horss on th tlphon.”

“H as a grat anagr,”th oy sad.“My fathr thnks h as th gratst.”

“Bcaus h ca hr th ost ts,”th old an sad.“If Durochr had contnud to co hr ach yar your fathr ould thnk h th gratst anagr.”

“Who s th gratst anagr,rally,Luqu or Mk Gonzalz?”

“I thnk thy ar qual.”

“And th st fshran s you.”

“No.I kno othrs ttr.”

“Qu va,”th oy sad.“ Thr ar any good fshrn and so grat ons.But thr s only you.”

“Thank you.You ak happy.I hop no fsh ll co along so grat that h ll prov us rong.”

“Thr s no such fsh f you ar stll strong as you say.”“I ay not as strong as I thnk,”th old an sad.“ But I kno any trcks and I hav rsoluton.”

“You ought to go to d no so that you ll frsh n th ornng.I ll tak th thngs ack to th Trrac.”

“Good nght thn.I ll ak you n th ornng.”

“You'r y alar clock,”th oy sad.

“Ag s y alar clock,”th old an sad.“ Why do old n ak so arly?Is t to hav on longr day?”

“I don't kno,”th oy sad.“All I kno s that young oys slp lat and hard.”

“I can rr t,”th old an sad.“ I'll akn you n t.”

“I do not lk for h to akn .It s as though I r nfror.”

“I kno.”

“Slp ll old an.”

Th oy nt out.Thy had atn th no lght on th tal and th old an took off hs trousrs and nt to d n th dark.H rolld hs trousrs up to ak a pllo ,puttng th nspapr nsd th.H rolld hslf n th lankt and slpt on th othr old nspaprs that covrd th sprngs of th d.

H as aslp n a short t and h drad of Afrca hn h as a oy and th long goldn achs and th ht achs,so ht thy hurt your ys,and th hgh caps and th grat ron ountans.H lvd along that coast no vry nght and n hs dras h hard th surf roar and sa th natv oats co rdng through t.H slld th tar and oaku of th dck as h slpt and h slld th sll of Afrca that th land rz rought at ornng.

Usually hn h slld th land rz h ok up and drssd to go and ak th oy.But tonght th sll of th land rz ca vry arly and h kn t as too arly n hs dra and nt on drang to s th ht paks of th Islands rsng fro th sa and thn h drad of th dffrnt harors and roadstads of th Canary Islands.

H no longr drad of stors,nor of on,nor of grat occurrncs ,nor of grat fsh,nor fghts,nor contsts of strngth,nor of hs f.H only drad of placs no and of th lons on th ach.Thy playd lk young cats n th dusk and h lovd th as h lovd th oy.H nvr drad aout th oy.H sply ok,lookd out th opn door at th oon and unrolld hs trousrs and put th on. H urnatd outsd th shack and thn nt up th road to ak th oy.H as shvrng th th ornng cold.But h kn h ould shvr hslf ar and that soon h ould rong.

Th door of th hous hr th oy lvd as unlockd and h opnd t and alkd n qutly th hs ar ft.Th oy as aslp on a cot n th frst roo and th old an could s h clarly th th lght that ca n fro th dyng oon.H took hold of on foot gntly and hld t untl th oy ok and turnd and lookd at h.Th old an noddd and th oy took hs trousrs fro th char y th d and, sttng on th d,pulld th on.

Th old an nt out th door and th oy ca aftr h.H as slpy and th old an put hs ars across hs shouldrs and sad,“I a sorry.”

“Qu va.”Th oy sad.“ It s hat a an ust do.”

Thy alkd don th road to th old an's shack and all along th road,n th dark,arfoot n r ovng, carryng th asts of thr oats.

Whn thy rachd th old an's shack th oy took th rolls of ln n th askt and th harpoon and gaff and th old an carrd th ast th th furld sal on hs shouldr.

“Do you ant coff?”th oy askd.

“W'll put th gar n th oat and thn gt so.”

Thy had coff fro condnsd lk cans at an arly ornng plac that srvd fshrn.

“Ho dd you slp old an?”th oy askd.H as akng up no although t as stll hard for h to lav hs slp.

“Vry ll,Manoln,”th old an sad.“ I fl confdnt today.”

“So do I,”th oy sad.“No I ust gt your sardns and n and your frsh ats.H rngs our gar hslf.H nvr ants anyon to carry anythng.”

“W'r dffrnt,”th old an sad.“I lt you carry thngs hn you r fv yars old.”

“I kno t,”th oy sad.“I'll rght ack. Hav anothr coff.W hav crdt hr.”

H alkd off,arfootd on th coral rocks,to th c hous hr th ats r stord.

Th old an drank hs coff sloly.It as all h ould hav all day and h kn that h should tak t.For a long t no atng had ord h and h nvr carrd a lunch.H had a ottl of atr n th o of th skff and that as all h ndd for th day.

Th oy as ack no th th sardns and th to ats rappd n a nspapr and thy nt don th tral to th skff,flng th pld sand undr thr ft,and lftd th skff and sld hr nto th atr.

“Good luck old an.”

“Good luck,”th old an sad. H fttd th rop lashngs of th oars onto th thol pns and,lanng forard aganst th thrust of th lads n th atr,h gan to ro out of th haror n th dark.Thr r othr oats fro th othr achs gong out to sa and th old an hard th dp and push of thr oars vn though h could not s th no th oon as lo th hlls.