第5章 The Old Man and the Big Fish[第2页/共15页]

“He's coming up,”he said.“Come on hand.Please come on.”

“Stay at my house if you like,bird,”he said.“ I am sorry I cannot hoist the sail and take you in with the small breeze that is rising.But I am with a friend.”

“Now,”he said,when his hand had dried,“I must eat the small tuna.I can reach him with the gaff and eat him here in comfort.”

His choice had been to stay in the deep dark water far out beyond all snares and traps and treacheries.My choice was to go there to find him beyond all people.Beyond all people in the world.Now we are joined together and have been since noon.And no one to help either one of us.

The sun was hot now although the breeze was rising gently.

So he did it.It was difficult in the dark and once the fish made a surge that pulled him down on his face and made a cut below his eye.The blood ran down his cheek a little way. But it coagulated and dried before it reached his chin and he worked his way back to the bow and rested against the wood.He adjusted the sack and carefully worked the line so that it came across a new part of his shoulders and,holding it anchored with his shoulders,he carefully felt the pull of the fish and then felt with his hand the progress of the skiff through the water.