第5章 The Old Man and the Big Fish[第3页/共15页]

“He has slowed much,”he said.

When the sun had risen further the old man realized that the fish was not tiring.There was only one favorable sign.The slant of the line showed he was swimming at a lesser depth. That did not necessarily mean that he would jump.But he might.“God let him jump,”the old man said.“I have enough line to handle him.”

I wish I could feed the fish, he thought. He is my brother.But I must kill him and keep strong to do it.Slowly and conscientiously he ate all of the wedge-shaped strips of fish.

The bird made the stern of the boat and rested there. Then he flew around the old man's head and rested on the line where he was more comfortable.

The line rose slowly and steadily and then the surface of the ocean bulged ahead of the boat and the fish came out. He came out unendingly and water poured from his sides. He was bright in the sun and his head and back were dark purple and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender.His sword was as long as a baseball bat and tapered like a rapier and he rose his full length from the water and then re-entered it,smoothly,like a diver and the old man saw the great scythe-blade of his tail go under and the line commenced to race out.