第3章 The Old Man on the Sea

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Sots soon ould spak n a oat.But ost of th oats r slnt xcpt for th dp of th oars.Thy sprad apart aftr thy r out of th outh of th haror and ach on hadd for th part of th ocan hr h hopd to fnd fsh.Th old an kn h as gong far out and h lft th sll of th land hnd and rod out nto th clan arly ornng sll of th ocan. H sa th phosphorscnc of th Gulf d n th atr as h rod ovr th part of th ocan that th fshrn calld th grat ll caus thr as a suddn dp of svn hundrd fathos hr all sorts of fsh congrgatd caus of th srl th currnt ad aganst th stp alls of th floor of th ocan.Hr thr r concntratons of shrp and at and sots schools of squd n th dpst hols and ths ros clos to th surfac at nght hr all th andrng fsh fd on th.

In th dark th old an could fl th ornng cong and as h rod h hard th trlng sound as flyng fsh lft th atr and th hssng that thr stff st ngs ad as thy soard aay n th darknss.H as vry fond of flyng fsh as thy r hs prncpal frnds on th ocan.H as sorry for th rds,spcally th sall dlcat dark trns that r alays flyng and lookng and alost nvr fndng,and h thought,“Th rds hav a hardr lf than do xcpt for th ror rds and th havy strong ons.Why dd thy ak rds so dlcat and fn as thos sa sallos hn th ocan can so crul?Sh s knd and vry autful.But sh can so crul and t cos so suddnly and such rds that fly,dppng and huntng,th thr sall sad vocs ar ad too dlcatly for th sa.”

H alays thought of th sa as la ar hch s hat popl call hr n Spansh hn thy lov hr.Sots thos ho lov hr say ad thngs of hr ut thy ar alays sad as though sh r a oan. So of th youngr fshrn,thos ho usd uoys as floats for thr lns and had otoroats,ought hn th shark lvrs had rought uch ony,spok of hr as l ar hch s asculn.Thy spok of hr as a contstant or a plac or vn an ny. But th old an alays thought of hr as fnn and as sothng that gav or thhld grat favors,and f sh dd ld or ckd thngs t as caus sh could not hlp th. Th oon affcts hr as t dos a oan,h thought.

H as rong stadly and t as no ffort for h snc h kpt ll thn hs spd and th surfac of th ocan as flat xcpt for th occasonal srls of th currnt.H as lttng th currnt do a thrd of th ork and as t startd to lght h sa h as alrady furthr out than h had hopd to at ths hour.

I orkd th dp lls for a k and dd nothng,h thought.Today I'll ork out hr th schools of onta and alacor ar and ay thr ll a g on th th.

Bfor t as rally lght h had hs ats out and as drftng th th currnt.On at as don forty fathos. Th scond as at svnty-fv and th thrd and fourth r don n th lu atr at on hundrd and on hundrd and tnty-fv fathos.Each at hung had don th th shank of th hook nsd th at fsh,td and sd sold and all th projctng part of th hook,th curv and th pont,as covrd th frsh sardns.Each sardn as hookd through oth ys so that thy ad a half-garland on th projctng stl.Thr as no part of th hook that a grat fsh could fl hch as not st sllng and good tastng.

Th oy had gvn h to frsh sall tunas, or alacors,hch hung on th to dpst lns lk pluts and,on th othrs,h had a g lu runnr and a yllo jack that had n usd for;ut thy r n good condton stll and had th xcllnt sardns to gv th scnt and attractvnss.Each ln,as thck around as a g pncl,as loopd onto a grn-sappd stck so that any pull or touch on th at ould ak th stck dp and ach ln had to forty-fatho cols hch could ad fast to th othr spar cols so that,f t r ncssary,a fsh could tak out ovr thr hundrd fathos of ln.

No th an atchd th dp of th thr stcks ovr th sd of th skff and rod gntly to kp th lns straght up and don and at thr propr dpths.It as qut lght and any ont no th sun ould rs.

Th sun ros thnly fro th sa and th old an could s th othr oats,lo on th atr and ll n toard th shor,sprad out across th currnt.Thn th sun as rghtr and th glar ca on th atr and thn,as t ros clar,th flat sa snt t ack at hs ys so that t hurt sharply and h rod thout lookng nto t.H lookd don nto th atr and atchd th lns that nt straght don nto th dark of th atr.H kpt th straghtr than anyon dd,so that at ach lvl n th darknss of th stra thr ould a at atng xactly hr h shd t to for any fsh that sa thr.Othrs lt th drft th th currnt and sots thy r at sxty fathos hn th fshrn thought thy r at a hundrd.

But,h thought,I kp th th prcson.Only I hav no luck any or.But ho knos?May to day.Evry day s a n day.It s ttr to lucky.But I ould rathr xact.Thn hn luck cos you ar rady.

Th sun as to hours hghr no and t dd not hurt hs ys so uch to look nto th ast.Thr r only thr oats n sght no and thy shod vry lo and far nshor.

All y lf th arly sun has hurt y ys,h thought. Yt thy ar stll good. In th vnng I can look straght nto t thout gttng th lacknss.It has or forc n th vnng too.But n th ornng t s panful.

Just thn h sa a an-of-ar rd th hs long lack ngs crclng n th sky ahad of h. H ad a quck drop,slantng don on hs ackspt ngs,and thn crcld agan.

“H's got sothng,”th old an sad aloud.“H's not just lookng.”

H rod sloly and stadly toard hr th rd as crclng.H dd not hurry and h kpt hs lns straght up and don.But h crodd th currnt a lttl so that h as stll fshng corrctly though fastr than h ould hav fshd f h as not tryng to us th rd.

Th rd nt hghr n th ar and crcld agan,hs ngs otonlss.Thn h dov suddnly and th old an sa flyng fsh spurt out of th atr and sal dspratly ovr th surfac.

“Dolphn,”th old an sad aloud.“ Bg dolphn.”

H shppd hs oars and rought a sall ln fro undr th o.It had a r ladr and a du-szd hook and h atd t th on of th sardns.H lt t go ovr th sd and thn ad t fast to a rng olt n th strn.Thn h atd anothr ln and lft t cold n th shad of th o. H nt ack to rong and to atchng th long ngd lack rd ho as orkng,no,lo ovr th atr.

As h atchd th rd dppd agan slantng hs ngs for th dv and thn sngng th ldly and nffctually as h follod th flyng fsh. Th old an could s th slght ulg n th atr that th g dolphn rasd as thy follod th scapng fsh.Th dolphn r cuttng through th atr lo th flght of th fsh and ould n th atr,drvng at spd,hn th fsh droppd.It s a g school of dolphn,h thought.Thy ar d sprad and th flyng fsh hav lttl chanc.Th rd has no chanc.Th flyng fsh ar too g for h and thy go too fast.

H atchd th flyng fsh urst out agan and agan and th nffctual ovnts of th rd.That school has gottn aay fro ,h thought.Thy ar ovng out too fast and too far.But prhaps I ll pck up a stray and prhaps y g fsh s around th.My g fsh ust sohr.

Th clouds ovr th land no ros lk ountans and th coast as only a long grn ln th th gray lu hlls hnd t.Th atr as a dark lu no,so dark that t as alost purpl.As h lookd don nto t h sa th rd sftng of th plankton n th dark atr and th strang lght th sun ad no.H atchd hs lns to s th go straght don out of sght nto th atr and h as happy to s so uch plankton caus t ant fsh.Th strang lght th sun ad n th atr,no that th sun as hghr, ant good athr and so dd th shap of th clouds ovr th land.But th rd as alost out of sght no and nothng shod on th surfac of th atr ut so patchs of yllo, sun-lachd Sargasso d and th purpl, foralzd,rdscnt ,glatnous laddr of a Portugus an-of-ar floatng clos sd th oat.It turnd on ts sd and thn rghtd tslf.It floatd chrfully as a ul th ts long dadly purpl flants tralng a yard hnd t n th atr.

“Agua ala,”th an sad.“ You hor.”

Fro hr h sung lghtly aganst hs oars h lookd don nto th atr and sa th tny fsh that r colord lk th tralng flants and sa tn th and undr th sall shad th ul ad as t drftd.Thy r un to ts poson.But n r not and hn so of th flants ould catch on a ln and rst thr sly and purpl hl th old an as orkng a fsh,h ould hav lts and sors on hs ars and hands of th sort that poson vy or poson oak can gv.But ths posonngs fro th agua ala ca quckly and struck lk a hplash.

Th rdscnt uls r autful.But thy r th falsst thng n th sa and th old an lovd to s th g sa turtls atng th.Th turtls sa th,approachd th fro th front,thn shut thr ys so thy r copltly carapacd and at th flants and all.Th old an lovd to s th turtls at th and h lovd to alk on th on th ach aftr a stor and har th pop hn h stppd on th th th horny sols of hs ft.

H lovd grn turtls and haks-lls th thr lganc and spd and thr grat valu and h had a frndly contpt for th hug,stupd loggrhads,yllo n thr aror-platng, strang n thr lov-akng, and happly atng th Portugus n-of-ar th thr ys shut.H had no ystcs aout turtls although h had gon n turtl oats for any yars.H as sorry for th all,vn th grat trunk acks that r as long as th skff and ghd a ton. Most popl ar hartlss aout turtls caus a turtl's hart ll at for hours aftr h has n cut up and utchrd . But th old an thought,I hav such a hart too and y ft and hands ar lk thrs.H at th ht ggs to gv hslf strngth.H at th all through May to strong n Sptr and Octor for th truly g fsh.

H also drank a cup of shark lvr ol ach day fro th g dru n th shack hr any of th fshrn kpt thr gar.It as thr for all fshrn ho antd t.Most fshrn hatd th tast.But t as no ors than gttng up at th hours that thy ros and t as vry good aganst all colds and grpps and t as good for th ys.

No th old an lookd up and sa that th rd as crclng agan.

“H's found fsh,”h sad aloud.No flyng fsh rok th surfac and thr as no scattrng of at fsh.But as th old an atchd,a sall tuna ros n th ar,turnd and droppd had frst nto th atr.Th tuna shon slvr n th sun and aftr h had droppd ack nto th atr anothr and anothr ros and thy r jupng n all drctons, churnng th atr and lapng n long jups aftr th at. Thy r crclng t and drvng t.

If thy don't travl too fast I ll gt nto th,th old an thought,and h atchd th school orkng th atr ht and th rd no droppng and dppng nto th at fsh that r forcd to th surfac n thr panc.

“Th rd s a grat hlp,”th old an sad.Just thn th strn ln ca taut undr hs foot,hr h had kpt a loop of th ln,and h droppd hs oars and flt th ght of th sall tuna's shvrng pull as h hld th ln fr and concd to haul t n.Th shvrng ncrasd as h pulld n and h could s th lu ack of th fsh n th atr and th gold of hs sds for h sung h ovr th sd and nto th oat.H lay n th strn n th sun,copact and ullt shapd,hs g,unntllgnt ys starng as h thupd hs lf out aganst th plankng of th oat th th quck shvrng stroks of hs nat,fast-ovng tal.Th old an ht h on th had for kndnss and kckd h,hs ody stll shuddrng,undr th shad of th strn.

“Alacor,”h sad aloud.“ H'll ak a autful at. H'll gh tn pounds.”

H dd not rr hn h had frst startd to talk aloud hn h as y hslf.H had sung hn h as y hslf n th old days and h had sung at nght sots hn h as alon strng on hs atch n th sacks or n th turtl oats.H had proaly startd to talk aloud, hn alon,hn th oy had lft.But h dd not rr. Whn h and th oy fshd togthr thy usually spok only hn t as ncssary.Thy talkd at nght or hn thy r storound y ad athr.It as consdrd a vrtu not to talk unncssarly at sa and th old an had alays consdrd t so and rspctd t.But no h sad hs thoughts aloud any ts snc thr as no on that thy could annoy.

“If th othrs hard talkng out loud thy ould thnk that I a crazy,”h sad aloud.“But snc I a not crazy,I do not car.And th rch hav rados to talk to th n thr oats and to rng th th asall.”

No s no t to thnk of asall,h thought.No s th t to thnk of only on thng.That hch I as orn for.Thr ght a g on around that school,h thought. I pckd up only a stragglr fro th alacor that r fdng.But thy ar orkng far out and fast.Evrythng that shos on th surfac today travls vry fast and to th northast.Can that th t of day?Or s t so sgn of athr that I do not kno?

H could not s th grn of th shor no ut only th tops of th lu hlls that shod ht as though thy r sno-cappd and th clouds that lookd lk hgh sno ountans aov th.Th sa as vry dark and th lght ad prss n th atr.Th yrad flcks of th plankton r annulld no y th hgh sun and t as only th grat dp prss n th lu atr that th old an sa no th hs lns gong straght don nto th atr that as a l dp.

Th tuna,th fshrn calld all th fsh of that spcs tuna and only dstngushd aong th y thr propr nas hn thy ca to sll th or to trad th for ats, r don agan.Th sun as hot no and th old an flt t on th ack of hs nck and flt th sat trckl don hs ack as h rod.

I could just drft,h thought,and slp and put a ght of ln around y to to ak .But today s ghty-fv days and I should fsh th day ll.