第4章 The Big Fish Bit the Hook[第2页/共9页]

“I wish I had the boy,”the old man said aloud.“I'm being towed by a fish and I'm the towing bitt.I could make the line fast.But then he could break it.I must hold him all I can and give him line when he must have it.Thank God he is travelling and not going down.”

He waited with the line between his thumb and his finger,watching it and the other lines at the same time for the fish might have swum up or down.Then came the same delicate pulling touch again.

What I will do if he decides to go down,I don't know. What I'll do if he sounds and dies I don't know.But I'll do something.There are plenty of things I can do.

“Yes,”he said.“Yes,”and shipped his oars without bumping the boat.He reached out for the line and held it softly between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. He felt no strain nor weight and he held the line lightly.Then it came again.This time it was a tentative pull,not solid nor heavy,and he knew exactly what it was.One hundred fathoms down a marlin was eating the sardines that covered the point and the shank of the hook where the hand-forged hook projected from the head of the small tuna.

“I wish the boy was here,”he said aloud and settled himself against the rounded planks of the bow and felt the strength of the great fish through the line he held across his shoulders moving steadily toward whatever he had chosen.