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

There was yellow weed on the line but the old man knew that only made an added drag and he was pleased. It was the yellow Gulf weed that had made so much phosphorescence in the night.

But you haven't got the boy,he thought.You have only yourself and you had better work back to the last line now,in the dark or not in the dark,and cut it away and hook up the two reserve coils.

He ate the other part of the piece that he had cut in two. He chewed it carefully and then spat out the skin.

The old man would have liked to keep his hand in the salt water longer but he was afraid of another sudden lurch by the fish and he stood up and braced himself and held his hand up against the sun.It was only a line burn that had cut his flesh.But it was in the working part of his hand.He knew he would need his hands before this was over and he did not like to be cut before it started.

The hawks ,he thought,that come out to sea to meet them.But he said nothing of this to the bird who could not understand him anyway and who would learn about the hawks soon enough.

He'll stay with me too,I suppose,the old man thought and he waited for it to be light.It was cold now in the time before daylight and he pushed against the wood to be warm. I can do it as long as he can,he thought.And in the first light the line extended out and down into the water.The boat moved steadily and when the first edge of the sun rose it was on the old man's right shoulder.