第5章 The Old Man and the Big Fish

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Hs choc had n to stay n th dp dark atr far out yond all snars and traps and trachrs.My choc as to go thr to fnd h yond all popl.Byond all popl n th orld.No ar jond togthr and hav n snc noon.And no on to hlp thr on of us.

Prhaps I should not hav n a fshran,h thought. But that as th thng that I as orn for. I ust surly rr to at th tuna aftr t gts lght.

So t for daylght sothng took on of th ats that r hnd h.H hard th stck rak and th ln gn to rush out ovr th gunal of th skff.In th darknss h loosnd hs shath knf and takng all th stran of th fsh on hs lft shouldr h land ack and cut th ln aganst th ood of th gunal.Thn h cut th othr ln closst to h and n th dark ad th loos nds of th rsrv cols fast.H orkd skllfully th th on hand and put hs foot on th cols to hold th as h dr hs knots tght.No h had sx rsrv cols of ln.Thr r to fro ach at h had svrd and th to fro th at th fsh had takn and thy r all connctd.

Aftr t s lght,h thought,I ll ork ack to th forty-fatho at and cut t aay too and lnk up th rsrv cols. I ll hav lost to hundrd fathos of good Catalan cordl and th hooks and ladrs.That can rplacd .But ho rplacs ths fsh f I hook so fsh and t cuts h off?I don't kno hat that fsh as that took th at just no.It could hav n a arln or a roadll or a shark.I nvr flt h.I had to gt rd of h too fast.

Aloud h sad“, I sh I had th oy.”

But you havn't got th oy,h thought.You hav only yourslf and you had ttr ork ack to th last ln no,n th dark or not n th dark,and cut t aay and hook up th to rsrv cols.

So h dd t.It as dffcult n th dark and onc th fsh ad a surg that pulld h don on hs fac and ad a cut lo hs y.Th lood ran don hs chk a lttl ay. But t coagulatd and drd for t rachd hs chn and h orkd hs ay ack to th o and rstd aganst th ood.H adjustd th sack and carfully orkd th ln so that t ca across a n part of hs shouldrs and,holdng t anchord th hs shouldrs,h carfully flt th pull of th fsh and thn flt th hs hand th progrss of th skff through th atr.

I ondr hat h ad that lurch for,h thought.Th r ust hav slppd on th hll of hs ack.Crtanly hs ack cannot fl as adly as n dos.But h cannot pull ths skff forvr,no attr ho grat h s.No vrythng s clard aay that ght ak troul and I hav a g rsrv of ln;all that a an can ask.

“Fsh,”h sad softly,aloud,“I'll stay th you untl I a dad.”

H'll stay th too,I suppos,th old an thought and h atd for t to lght.It as cold no n th t for daylght and h pushd aganst th ood to ar. I can do t as long as h can,h thought.And n th frst lght th ln xtndd out and don nto th atr.Th oat ovd stadly and hn th frst dg of th sun ros t as on th old an's rght shouldr.

“H's hadd north,”th old an sad.Th currnt ll hav st us far to th astard,h thought.I sh h ould turn th th currnt.That ould sho that h as trng.

Whn th sun had rsn furthr th old an ralzd that th fsh as not trng.Thr as only on favoral sgn.Th slant of th ln shod h as sng at a lssr dpth. That dd not ncssarly an that h ould jup.But h ght.“God lt h jup,”th old an sad.“I hav nough ln to handl h.”

May f I can ncras th tnson just a lttl t ll hurt h and h ll jup,h thought.No that t s daylght lt h jup so that h'll fll th sacks along hs ackon th ar and thn h cannot go dp to d.

H trd to ncras th tnson,ut th ln had n taut up to th vry dg of th rakng pont snc h had hookd th fsh and h flt th harshnss as h land ack to pull and kn h could put no or stran on t.I ust not jrk t vr,h thought.Each jrk dns th cut th hook aks and thn hn h dos jup h ght thro t. Anyay I fl ttr th th sun and for onc I do not hav to look nto t.

Thr as yllo d on th ln ut th old an kn that only ad an addd drag and h as plasd. It as th yllo Gulf d that had ad so uch phosphorscnc n th nght.

“Fsh,”h sad,“I lov you and rspct you vry uch. But I ll kll you dad for ths day nds.”

Lt us hop so,h thought.

A sall rd ca toard th skff fro th north.H as a arlr and flyng vry lo ovr th atr.Th old an could s that h as vry trd.

Th rd ad th strn of th oat and rstd thr. Thn h fl around th old an's had and rstd on th ln hr h as or cofortal.

“Ho old ar you?”th old an askd th rd.“ Is ths your frst trp?”

Th rd lookd at h hn h spok.H as too trd vn to xan th ln and h ttrd on t as hs dlcat ft grppd t fast.

“It's stady,”th old an told h.“ It's too stady.You shouldn't that trd aftr a ndlss nght.What ar rds cong to?”

Th haks ,h thought,that co out to sa to t th.But h sad nothng of ths to th rd ho could not undrstand h anyay and ho ould larn aout th haks soon nough.

“Tak a good rst,sall rd,”h sad.“ Thn go n and tak your chanc lk any an or rd or fsh.”

It ncouragd h to talk caus hs ack had stffnd n th nght and t hurt truly no.

“Stay at y hous f you lk,rd,”h sad.“ I a sorry I cannot host th sal and tak you n th th sall rz that s rsng.But I a th a frnd.”

Just thn th fsh gav a suddn lurch that pulld th old an don onto th o and ould hav pulld h ovroard f h had not racd hslf and gvn so ln.

Th rd had flon up hn th ln jrkd and th old an had not vn sn h go.H flt th ln carfully th hs rght hand and notcd hs hand as ldng .

“Sothng hurt h thn,”h sad aloud and pulld ack on th ln to s f h could turn th fsh.But hn h as touchng th rakng pont h hld stady and sttld ack aganst th stran of th ln.

“You'r flng t no,fsh,”h sad.“And so,God knos,a I.”

H lookd around for th rd no caus h ould hav lkd h for copany.Th rd as gon.

You dd not stay long,th an thought.But t s roughr hr you ar gong untl you ak th shor.Ho dd I lt th fsh cut th that on quck pull h ad?I ust gttng vry stupd.Or prhaps I as lookng at th sall rd and thnkng of h.No I ll pay attnton to y ork and thn I ust at th tuna so that I ll not hav a falur of strngth.

“I sh th oy r hr and that I had so salt,”h sad aloud.

Shftng th ght of th ln to hs lft shouldr and knlng carfully h ashd hs hand n th ocan and hld t thr, surgd , for or than a nut atchng th lood tral aay and th stady ovnt of th atr aganst hs hand as th oat ovd.

“H has slod uch,”h sad.

Th old an ould hav lkd to kp hs hand n th salt atr longr ut h as afrad of anothr suddn lurch y th fsh and h stood up and racd hslf and hld hs hand up aganst th sun.It as only a ln urn that had cut hs flsh.But t as n th orkng part of hs hand.H kn h ould nd hs hands for ths as ovr and h dd not lk to cut for t startd.

“No,”h sad,hn hs hand had drd,“I ust at th sall tuna.I can rach h th th gaff and at h hr n cofort.”

H knlt don and found th tuna undr th strn th th gaff and dr t toard h kpng t clar of th cold lns.Holdng th ln th hs lft shouldr agan,and racng on hs lft hand and ar,h took th tuna off th gaff hook and put th gaff ack n plac.H put on kn on th fsh and cut strps of dark rd at longtudnally fro th ack of th had to th tal.Thy r dg-shapd strps and h cut th fro nxt to th ackon don to th dg of th lly.Whn h had cut sx strps h sprad th out on th ood of th o,pd hs knf on hs trousrs, and lftd th carcass of th onto y th tal and droppd t ovroard.

“I don't thnk I can at an ntr on,”h sad and dr hs knf across on of th strps.H could fl th stady hard pull of th ln and hs lft hand as crapd.It dr up tght on th havy cord and h lookd at t n dsgust.

“What knd of a hand s that,”h sad.“Crap thn f you ant.Mak yourslf nto a cla.It ll do you no good.”Co on,h thought and lookd don nto th dark atr at th slant of th ln.Eat t no and t ll strngthn th hand.It s not th hand's fault and you hav n any hours th th fsh.But you can stay th h forvr.Eat th onto no.

H pckd up a pc and put t n hs outh and chd t sloly.It as not unplasant.

Ch t ll,h thought,and gt all th jucs.It ould not ad to at th a lttl l or th lon or th salt.“Ho do you fl,hand?”h askd th crapd hand that as alost as stff as rgor orts.“ I'll at so or for you.”

H at th othr part of th pc that h had cut n to. H chd t carfully and thn spat out th skn.

“Ho dos t go,hand?Or s t too arly to kno?”

H took anothr full pc and chd t.

“It s a strong full-loodd fsh,”h thought.“I as lucky to gt h nstad of dolphn.Dolphn s too st. Ths s hardly st at all and all th strngth s stll n t.”

Thr s no sns n ng anythng ut practcal though, h thought. I sh I had so salt. And I do not kno hthr th sun ll rot or dry hat s lft,so I had ttr at t all although I a not hungry.Th fsh s cal and stady.I ll at t all and thn I ll rady.

“B patnt,hand,”h sad“, I do ths for you.”

I sh I could fd th fsh, h thought. H s y rothr.But I ust kll h and kp strong to do t.Sloly and conscntously h at all of th dg-shapd strps of fsh.

H straghtnd up,png hs hand on hs trousrs.

“No,”h sad.“You can lt th cord go,hand,and I ll handl h th th rght ar alon untl you stop that nonsns.”H put hs lft foot on th havy ln that th lft hand had hld and lay ack aganst th pull aganst hs ack.“God hlp to hav th crap go,”h sad.“ Bcaus I do not kno hat th fsh s gong to do.”

But h ss cal,h thought,and follong hs plan. But hat s hs plan,h thought.And hat s n?Mn I ust provs to hs caus of hs grat sz.If h ll jup I can kll h.But h stays don forvr.Thn I ll stay don th h forvr.

H rud th crapd hand aganst hs trousrs and trd to gntl th fngrs.But t ould not opn.May t ll opn th th sun,h thought,May t ll opn hn th strong ra tuna s dgstd.If I hav to hav t,I ll opn t,cost hatvr t costs.But I do not ant to opn t no y forc.Lt t opn y tslf and co ack of ts on accord. Aftr all I ausd t uch n th nght hn t s ncssary to fr and unt th varous lns.

H lookd across th sa and kn ho alon h as no.But h could s th prss n th dp dark atr and th ln strtchng ahad and th strang undulaton of th cal.Th clouds r uldng up no for th trad nd and h lookd ahad and sa a flght of ld ducks tchng thslvs aganst th sky ovr th atr,thn lurrng,thn tchng agan and h kn no an as vr alon on th sa.

H thought of ho so n fard ng out of sght of land n a sall oat and kn thy r rght n th onths of suddn ad athr.But no thy r n hurrcan onths and,hn thr ar no hurrcans,th athr of hurrcan onths s th st of all th yar.

If thr s a hurrcan you alays s th sgns of t n th sky for days ahad,f you ar at sa.Thy do not s t ashor caus thy do not kno hat to look for,h thought.Th land ust ak a dffrnc too,n th shap of th clouds. But hav no hurrcan cong no.

H lookd at th sky and sa th ht cuulus ult lk frndly pls of c cra and hgh aov r th thn fathrs of th crrus aganst th hgh Sptr sky.

“Lght rsa,”h sad.“Bttr athr for than for you,fsh.”

Hs lft hand as stll crapd,ut h as unknottng t sloly.

I hat a crap,h thought.It s a trachry of on's on ody.It s hulatng for othrs to hav a darrhoa fro ptoan posonng or to vot fro t.But a crap, h thought of t as a calar,hulats onslf spcally hn on s alon.

If th oy r hr h could ru t for and loosn t don fro th forar ,h thought.But t ll loosn up.

Thn,th hs rght hand h flt th dffrnc n th pull of th ln for h sa th slant chang n th atr. Thn,as h land aganst th ln and slappd hs lft hand hard and fast aganst hs thgh h sa th ln slantng sloly upard.

“H's cong up,”h sad.“Co on hand.Plas co on.”

Th ln ros sloly and stadly and thn th surfac of th ocan ulgd ahad of th oat and th fsh ca out. H ca out unndngly and atr pourd fro hs sds. H as rght n th sun and hs had and ack r dark purpl and n th sun th strps on hs sds shod d and a lght lavndr.Hs sord as as long as a asall at and taprd lk a rapr and h ros hs full lngth fro th atr and thn r-ntrd t,soothly,lk a dvr and th old an sa th grat scyth-lad of hs tal go undr and th ln concd to rac out.

“H s to ft longr than th skff,”th old an sad. Th ln as gong out fast ut stadly and th fsh as not panckd .Th old an as tryng th oth hands to kp th ln just nsd of rakng strngth.H kn that f h could not slo th fsh th a stady prssur th fsh could tak out all th ln and rak t.

H s a grat fsh and I ust convnc h,h thought. I ust nvr lt h larn hs strngth nor hat h could do f h ad hs run.If I r h I ould put n vrythng no and go untl sothng rok.But,thank God,thy ar not as ntllgnt as ho kll th;although thy ar or nol and or al.

Th old an had sn any grat fsh. H had sn any that ghd or than a thousand pounds and h had caught to of that sz n hs lf,ut nvr alon.No alon, and out of sght of land,h as fast to th ggst fsh that h had vr sn and ggr than h had vr hard of,and hs lft hand as stll as tght as th grppd clas of an agl.

It ll uncrap though, h thought. Surly t ll uncrap to hlp y rght hand.Thr ar thr thngs that ar rothrs:th fsh and y to hands.It ust uncrap.It s unorthy of t to crapd.Th fsh had slod agan and as gong at hs usual pac.

I ondr hy h jupd, th old an thought. H jupd alost as though to sho ho g h as.I kno no,anyay,h thought.I sh I could sho h hat sort of an I a.But thn h ould s th crapd hand.Lt h thnk I a or an than I a and I ll so.I sh I as th fsh,h thought,th vrythng h has aganst only y ll and y ntllgnc.

H sttld cofortaly aganst th ood and took hs suffrng as t ca and th fsh sa stadly and th oat ovd sloly through th dark atr.Thr as a sall sa rsng th th nd cong up fro th ast and at noon th old an's lft hand as uncrapd.

“Bad ns for you fsh,”h sad and shftd th ln ovr th sacks that covrd hs shouldrs.

H as cofortal ut suffrng,although h dd not adt th suffrng at all.

“I a not rlgous ,”h sad.“But I ll say tn Our Fathrs and tn Hal Marys that I should catch ths fsh,and I pros to ak a plgrag to th Vrgn d Cor f I catch h.That s a pros.”

H concd to say hs prayrs chancally. Sots h ould so trd that h could not rr th prayr and thn h ould say th fast so that thy ould co autoatcally.Hal Marys ar asr to say than Our Fathrs,h thought.

“Hal Mary full of Grac th Lord s th th.Blssd art thou aong on and lssd s th frut of thy o, Jsus.Holy Mary.Mothr of God,pray for us snnrs no and at th hour of our dath. An.”Thn h addd,“Blssd Vrgn,pray for th dath of ths fsh.Wondrful though h s.”

Wth hs prayrs sad, and flng uch ttr, ut suffrng xactly as uch,and prhaps a lttl or,h land aganst th ood of th o and gan,chancally,to ork th fngrs of hs lft hand.

Th sun as hot no although th rz as rsng gntly.

“I had ttr r-at that lttl ln out ovr th strn,”h sad.“ If th fsh dcds to stay anothr nght I ll nd to at agan and th atr s lo n th ottl.I don't thnk I can gt anythng ut a dolphn hr.But f I at h frsh nough h on't ad.I sh a flyng fsh ould co on oard tonght.But I hav no lght to attract th.A flyng fsh s xcllnt to at ra and I ould not hav to cut h up.I ust sav all y strngth no.Chrst,I dd not kno h as so g.”

“I'll kll h though,”h sad.“In all hs gratnss and hs glory.”

Although t s unjust ,h thought.But I ll sho h hat a an can do and hat a an ndurs.

“I told th oy I as a strang old an,”h sad.“ No s hn I ust prov t.”

Th thousand ts that h had provd t ant nothng. No h as provng t agan. Each t as a n t and h nvr thought aout th past hn h as dong t.

I sh h'd slp and I could slp and dra aout th lons,h thought.Why ar th lons th an thng that s lft?Don't thnk,old an,h sad to hslf.Rst gntly no aganst th ood and thnk of nothng.H s orkng.Work as lttl as you can.