第5章 The Old Man and the Big Fish[第4页/共15页]

“Be patient,hand,”he said“, I do this for you.”

The bird looked at him when he spoke.He was too tired even to examine the line and he teetered on it as his delicate feet gripped it fast.

“How old are you?”the old man asked the bird.“ Is this your first trip?”

Shifting the weight of the line to his left shoulder and kneeling carefully he washed his hand in the ocean and held it there, submerged , for more than a minute watching the blood trail away and the steady movement of the water against his hand as the boat moved.

“I am not religious ,”he said.“But I will say ten Our Fathers and ten Hail Marys that I should catch this fish,and I promise to make a pilgrimage to the Virgin de Cobre if I catch him.That is a promise.”

If the boy were here he could rub it for me and loosen it down from the forearm ,he thought.But it will loosen up.

A small bird came toward the skiff from the north.He was a warbler and flying very low over the water.The old man could see that he was very tired.

“I'll kill him though,”he said.“In all his greatness and his glory.”

“Fish,”he said softly,aloud,“I'll stay with you until I am dead.”

He commenced to say his prayers mechanically. Sometimes he would be so tired that he could not remember the prayer and then he would say them fast so that they would come automatically.Hail Marys are easier to say than Our Fathers,he thought.