苗疆小说网

第8章 The Sharks Attack（第2页）

Butyouenjoyedkillingthedentuso，hethought。Helivesonthelivefishasyoudo。Heisnotascavengernorjustamovingappetiteassomesharksare。Heisbeautifulandnobleandknowsnofearofanything。

“Ikilledhiminself-defense，”theoldmansaidaloud。“AndIkilledhimwell。”

Besides，hethought，everythingkillseverythingelseinsomeway。Fishingkillsmeexactlyasitkeepsmealive。Theboykeepsmealive，hethought。Imustnotdeceivemyselftoomuch。

Heleanedoverthesideandpulledlooseapieceofthemeatofthefishwherethesharkhadcuthim。Hecheweditandnoteditsqualityanditsgoodtaste。Itwasfirmandjuicy，likemeat，butitwasnotred。Therewasnospringinessinitandheknewthatitwouldbringthehighestpriceinthemarket。Buttherewasnowaytokeepitsscentoutofthewaterandtheoldmanknewthataverybadtimewascoming。

Thebreezewassteady。Ithadbackedalittlefurtherintothenortheastandheknewthatmeantthatitwouldnotfalloff。Theoldmanlookedaheadofhimbuthecouldseenosailsnorcouldheseethehullnorthesmokeofanyship。Therewereonlytheflyingfishthatwentupfromhisbowsailingawaytoeithersideandtheyellowpatchesofgulf-weed。Hecouldnotevenseeabird。

Hehadailedfortwohours，restinginthesternandsometimeschewingabitofthemeatfromthemarlin，tryingtorestandtobestrong，whenhesawthefirstofthetwosharks。

“Ay，”hesaidaloud。Thereisnotranslationforthiswordandperhapsitisjustanoisesuchasamanmightmake，involuntarily，feelingthenailgothroughhishandsandintothewood。

“Galanos。”hesaidaloud。Hehadseenthesecondfinnowcomingupbehindthefirstandhadidentifiedthemasshovel-nosedsharksbythebrown，triangularfinandthesweepingmovementsofthetail。Theyhadthescentandwereexcitedandinthestupidityoftheirgreathungertheywerelosingandfindingthescentintheirexcitement。Buttheywereclosingallthetime。

Theoldmanmadethesheetfastandjammedthetiller。Thenhetookuptheoarwiththeknifelashedtoit。Helifteditaslightlyashecouldbecausehishandsrebelledatthepain。Thenheopenedandclosedthemonitlightlytoloosenthem。Heclosedthemfirmlysotheywouldtakethepainnowandwouldnotflinchandwatchedthesharkscome。Hecouldseetheirwide，flattened，shovel-pointedheadsnowandtheirwhite-tippedwidepectoralfins。Theywerehatefulsharks，badsmelling，scavengersaswellaskillers，andwhentheywerehungrytheywouldbiteatanoarortherudderofaboat。Itwasthesesharksthatwouldcuttheturtleslegsandflippersoffwhentheturtleswereasleeponthesurface，andtheywouldhitamaninthewater，iftheywerehungry，evenifthemanhadnosmelloffishbloodnoroffishslimeonhim。

“Ay，”theoldmansaid。“Galanos。ComeonGalanos。”

Theycame。ButtheydidnotcomeastheMakohadcome。Oneturnedandwentoutofsightundertheskiffandtheoldmancouldfeeltheskiffshakeashejerkedandpulledonthefish。Theotherwatchedtheoldmanwithhisslittedyelloweyesandthencameinfastwithhishalfcircleofjawswidetohitthefishwherehehadalreadybeenbitten。Thelineshowedclearlyonthetopofhisbrownheadandbackwherethebrainjoinedthespinalcordandtheoldmandrovetheknifeontheoarintothejuncture，withdrewit，anddroveitinagainintothesharksyellowcat-likeeyes。Thesharkletgoofthefishandsliddown，swallowingwhathehadtakenashedied。

Theskiffwasstillshakingwiththedestructiontheothersharkwasdoingtothefishandtheoldmanletgothesheetsothattheskiffwouldswingbroadsideandbringthesharkoutfromunder。Whenhesawthesharkheleanedoverthesideandpunchedathim。Hehitonlymeatandthehidewassethardandhebarelygottheknifein。Theblowhurtnotonlyhishandsbuthisshouldertoo。Butthesharkcameupfastandhisheadoutandtheoldmanhithimsquarelyinthecenterofhisflat-toppedheadashisnosecameoutofwaterandlayagainstthefish。Theoldmanwithdrewthebladeandpunchedthesharkexactlyinthesamespotagain。Hestillhungtothefishwithhisjawshookedandtheoldmanstabbedhiminhislefteye。Thesharkstillhungthere。

“No?”theoldmansaidandhedrovethebladebetweenthevertebraeandthebrain。Itwasaneasyshotnowandhefeltthecartilagesever。Theoldmanreversedtheoarandputthebladebetweenthesharksjawstoopenthem。Hetwistedthebladeandasthesharkslidloosehesaid，“Goon，galano。Slidedownamiledeep。Goseeyourfriend，ormaybeitsyourmother。”

Theoldmanwipedthebladeofhisknifeandlaiddowntheoar。Thenhefoundthesheetandthesailfilledandhebroughttheskiffontohercourse。

“Theymusthavetakenaquarterofhimandofthebestmeat，”hesaidaloud。“IwishitwereadreamandthatIhadneverhookedhim。Imsorryaboutit，fish。Itmakeseverythingwrong。”Hestoppedandhedidnotwanttolookatthefishnow。Drainedofbloodandawashhelookedthecolorofthesilverbackingofamirrorandhisstripesstillshowed。

“Ishouldnthavegoneoutsofar，fish，”hesaid。“Neitherforyounorforme。Imsorry，fish。”

Now，hesaidtohimself。Looktothelashingontheknifeandseeifithasbeencut。Thengetyourhandinorderbecausetherestillismoretocome。

“IwishIhadastonefortheknife，”theoldmansaidafterhehadcheckedthelashingontheoarbutt。“Ishouldhavebroughtastone。”Youshouldhavebroughtmanythings，hethought。Butyoudidnotbringthem，oldman。Nowisnotimetothinkofwhatyoudonothave。Thinkofwhatyoucandowithwhatthereis。

“Yougivememuchgoodcounsel，”hesaidaloud。“Imtiredofit。”

Heheldthetillerunderhisarmandsoakedbothhishandsinthewaterastheskiffdroveforward。

“Godknowshowmuchthatlastonetook，”hesaid。“Butshesmuchlighternow。”Hedidnotwanttothinkofthemutilatedunder-sideofthefish。Heknewthateachofthejerkingbumpsofthesharkhadbeenmeattornawayandthatthefishnowmadeatrailforallsharksaswideasahighwaythroughthesea。

Hewasafishtokeepamanallwinter，hethought。Dontthinkofthat。Justrestandtrytogetyourhandsinshapetodefendwhatisleftofhim。Thebloodsmellfrommyhandsmeansnothingnowwithallthatscentinthewater。Besidestheydonotbleedmuch。Thereisnothingcutthatmeansanything。Thebleedingmaykeeptheleftfromcramping。

WhatcanIthinkofnow?Hethought。Nothing。Imustthinkofnothingandwaitforthenextones。Iwishithadreallybeenadream，hethought。Butwhoknows?Itmighthaveturnedoutwell。

Thenextsharkthatcamewasasingleshovel-nose。Hecamelikeapigtothetroughifapighadamouthsowidethatyoucouldputyourheadinit。Theoldmanlethimhitthefishandthendrovetheknifeontheoardownintohisbrain。Butthesharkjerkedbackwardsasherolledandtheknifebladesnapped。

Theoldmansettledhimselftosteer。Hedidnotevenwatchthebigsharksinkingslowlyinthewater，showingfirstlife-size，thensmall，thentiny。Thatalwaysfascinatedtheoldman。Buthedidnotevenwatchitnow。

“Ihavethegaffnow，”hesaid。“Butitwilldonogood。Ihavethetwooarsandthetillerandtheshortclub。”

Nowtheyhavebeatenme，hethought。Iamtoooldtoclubsharkstodeath。ButIwilltryitaslongasIhavetheoarsandtheshortclubandthetiller。