第1章 The Old Mans Hard Life

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H as an old an ho fshd alon n a skff n th Gulf Stra and h had gon ghty-four days no thout takng a fsh.In th frst forty days a oy had n th h.But aftr forty days thout a fsh th oy's parnts had told h that th old an as no dfntly and fnally salao,hch s th orst for of unlucky,and th oy had gon at thr ordrs n anothr oat hch caught thr good fsh th frst k.It ad th oy sad to s th old an co n ach day th hs skff pty and h alays nt don to hlp h carry thr th cold lns or th gaff and harpoon and th sal that as furld around th ast.Th sal as patchd th flour sacks and,furld,t lookd lk th flag of prannt dfat.

Th old an as thn and gaunt th dp rnkls n th ack of hs nck.Th ron lotchs of th nvolnt skn cancr th sun rngs fro ts rflcton on th tropc sa r on hs chks.Th lotchs ran ll don th sds of hs fac and hs hands had th dp-crasd scars fro handlng havy fsh on th cords.But non of ths scars r frsh.Thy r as old as rosons n a fshlss dsrt.

Evrythng aout h as old xcpt hs ys and thy r th sa color as th sa and r chrful and undfatd.

“Santago,”th oy sad to h as thy cld th ank fro hr th skff as hauld up.“I could go th you agan.W'v ad so ony.”

Th old an had taught th oy to fsh and th oy lovd h.

“No,”th old an sad. “You'r th a lucky oat.Stay th th.”

“But rr ho you nt ghty-svn days thout fsh and thn caught g ons vry day for thr ks.”“I rr,”th old an sad,“I kno you dd not lav caus you doutd.”

“It as papa ad lav.I a a oy and I ust oy h.”

“I kno,”th old an sad.“ It s qut noral.”

“H hasn't uch fath.”

“No,”th old an sad.“ But hav.Havn't ?”“Ys,”th oy sad.“Can I offr you a r on th Trrac and thn 'll tak th stuff ho.”

“Why not?”th old an sad.“ Btn fshrn.”

Thy sat on th Trrac and any of th fshrn ad fun of th old an and h as not angry.Othrs,of th oldr fshrn,lookd at h and r sad.But thy dd not sho t and thy spok poltly aout th currnt and th dpths thy had drftd thr lns at and th stady good athr and of hat thy had sn.Th succssful fshrn of that day r alrady n and had utchrd thr arln out and carrd th lad full across to planks,th to n staggrng at th nd of ach plank,to th fsh hous hr thy atd for th c truck to carry th to th arkt n Havana.Thos ho had caught sharks had takn th to th shark factory on th othr sd of th cov hr thy r hostd on a lock and tackl,thr lvrs rovd, thr fns cut off and thr hds sknnd out and thr flsh cut nto strps for saltng.

Whn th nd as n th ast a sll ca across th haror fro th shark factory;ut today thr as only th fant dg of th odor caus th nd had ackd nto th north and thn droppd off and t as plasant and sunny on th Trrac.

“Santago,”th oy sad.

“Ys,”th old an sad.H as holdng hs glass and thnkng of any yars ago.

“Can I go out to gt sardns for you for toorro?”“No.Go and play asall.I can stll ro and Roglo ll thro th nt.”

“I ould lk to go.If I cannot fsh th you,I ould lk to srv n so ay.”

“You ought a r,”th old an sad.“You ar alrady a an.”

“Ho old as I hn you frst took n a oat?”

“Fv and you narly r klld hn I rought th fsh n too grn and h narly tor th oat to pcs.Can you rr?”

“I can rr th tal slappng and angng and th thart rakng and th nos of th clung. I can rr you throng nto th o hr th t cold lns r and flng th hol oat shvr and th nos of you clung h lk choppng a tr don and th st lood sll all ovr .”

“Can you rally rr that or dd I just tll t to you?”

“I rr vrythng fro hn frst nt togthr.”

Th old an lookd at h th hs sunurnd, confdnt lovng ys.

“If you r y oy I'd tak you out and gal,”h sad.“But you ar your fathr's and your othr's and you ar n a lucky oat.”

“May I gt th sardns?I kno hr I can gt four ats too.”

“I hav n lft fro today.I put th n salt n th ox.”

“Lt gt four frsh ons.”

“On,”th old an sad.Hs hop and hs confdnc had nvr gon.But no thy r frshnng as hn th rz rss.

“To,”th oy sad.

“To,”th old an agrd.“ You ddn't stal th?”

“I ould,”th oy sad.“ But I ought ths.”

“Thank you,”th old an sad.H as too spl to ondr hn h had attand hulty.But h kn h had attand t and h kn t as not dsgracful and t carrd no loss of tru prd.

“Toorro s gong to a good day th ths currnt,”h sad.

“Whr ar you gong?”th oy askd.

“Far out to co n hn th nd shfts.I ant to out for t s lght.”

“I'll try to gt h to ork far out,”th oy sad.“ Thn f you hook sothng truly g can co to your ad.”

“H dos not lk to ork too far out.”

“No,”th oy sad.“But I ll s sothng that h cannot s such as a rd orkng and gt h to co out aftr dolphn.”

“Ar hs ys that ad?”

“H s alost lnd.”

“It s strang,”th old an sad.“H nvr nt turtl-ng.That s hat klls th ys.”

“But you nt turtl-ng for yars off th Mosquto Coast and your ys ar good.

“I a a strang old an.”

“But ar you strong nough no for a truly g fsh?”

“I thnk so.And thr ar any trcks.”

“Lt us tak th stuff ho,”th oy sad.“ So I can gt th cast nt and go aftr th sardns.”

Thy pckd up th gar fro th oat.Th old an carrd th ast on hs shouldr and th oy carrd th oodn ox th th cold,hard-radd ron lns,th gaff and th harpoon th ts shaft.Th ox th th ats as undr th strn of th skff along th th clu that as usd to sudu th g fsh hn thy r rought alongsd.No on ould stal fro th old an ut t as ttr to tak th sal and th havy lns ho as th d as ad for th and,though h as qut sur no local popl ould stal fro h,th old an thought that a gaff and a harpoon r ndlss tptatons to lav n a oat.

Thy alkd up th road togthr to th old an's shack and nt n through ts opn door.Th old an land th ast th ts rappd sal aganst th all and th oy put th ox and th othr gar sd t.Th ast as narly as long as th on roo of th shack.Th shack as ad of th tough ud-shlds of th royal pal hch ar calld guano and n t thr as a d,a tal,on char,and a plac on th drt floor to cook th charcoal.On th ron alls of th flattnd,ovrlappng lavs of th sturdy frd guano thr as a pctur n color of th Sacrd Hart of Jsus and anothr of th Vrgn of Cor.Ths r rlcs of hs f. Onc thr had n a tntd photograph of hs f on th all ut h had takn t don caus t ad h too lonly to s t and t as on th shlf n th cornr undr hs clan shrt.

“What do you hav to at?”th oy askd.

“A pot of yllo rc th fsh.Do you ant so?”

“No,I ll at at ho.Do you ant to ak th fr?”

“No.I ll ak t latr on.Or I ay at th rc cold.”

“May I tak th cast nt?”

“Of cours.”

Thr as no cast nt and th oy rrd hn thy had sold t.But thy nt through ths fcton vry day. Thr as no pot of yllo rc and fsh and th oy kn ths too.

“Eghty-fv s a lucky nur,”th old an sad.“ Ho ould you lk to s rng on n that drssd out ovr a thousand pounds?”

“I'll gt th cast nt and go for sardns.Wll you st n th sun n th dooray?”

“Ys. I hav ystrday's papr and I ll rad th asall.”

Th oy dd not kno hthr ystrday's papr as a fcton too.But th old an rought t out fro undr th d.

“Prco gav t to at th odga,”h xpland.

“I'll ack hn I hav th sardns.I'll kp yours and n togthr on c and can shar th n th ornng. Whn I co ack you can tll aout th asall.”

“Th Yanks cannot los.”

“But I far th Indans of Clvland.”

“Hav fath n th Yanks y son.Thnk of th grat DMaggo.”

“I far oth th Tgrs of Dtrot and th Indans of Clvland.

“B carful or you ll far vn th Rds of Cncnnat and th Wht Sox of Chcago.”

“You study t and tll hn I co ack.”

“Do you thnk should uy a trnal of th lottry th an ghty-fv?Toorro s th ghty-ffth day.”

“W can do that,”th oy sad.“But hat aout th ghty-svn of your grat rcord?”

“It could not happn tc.Do you thnk you can fnd an ghty-fv?”

“I can ordr on.”

“On sht.That's to dollars and a half.Who can orro that fro?”

“That's asy. I can alays orro to dollars and a half.”

“I thnk prhaps I can too.But I try not to orro.Frst you orro.Thn you g.”

“Kp ar old an,”th oy sad.“ Rr ar n Sptr.”

“Th onth hn th grat fsh co,”th old an sad.“ Anyon can a fshran n May.”

“I go no for th sardns,”th oy sad.

Whn th oy ca ack th old an as aslp n th char and th sun as don.Th oy took th old ary lankt off th d and sprad t ovr th ack of th char and ovr th old an's shouldrs.Thy r strang shouldrs,stll porful although vry old,and th nck as stll strong too and th crass dd not sho so uch hn th old an as aslp and hs had falln forard.Hs shrt had n patchd so any ts that t as lk th sal and th patchs r fadd to any dffrnt shads y th sun.Th old an's had as vry old though and th hs ys closd thr as no lf n hs fac.Th nspapr lay across hs kns and th ght of hs ar hld t thr n th vnng rz. H as arfootd.

Th oy lft h thr and hn h ca ack th old an as stll aslp.