苗疆小说网

第5章 The Old Man and the Big Fish（第2页）

“Somethinghurthimthen，”hesaidaloudandpulledbackonthelinetoseeifhecouldturnthefish。Butwhenhewastouchingthebreakingpointheheldsteadyandsettledbackagainstthestrainoftheline。

“Yourefeelingitnow，fish，”hesaid。“Andso，Godknows，amI。”

Helookedaroundforthebirdnowbecausehewouldhavelikedhimforcompany。Thebirdwasgone。

Youdidnotstaylong，themanthought。Butitisrougherwhereyouaregoinguntilyoumaketheshore。HowdidIletthefishcutmewiththatonequickpullhemade?Imustbegettingverystupid。OrperhapsIwaslookingatthesmallbirdandthinkingofhim。NowIwillpayattentiontomyworkandthenImusteatthetunasothatIwillnothaveafailureofstrength。

“IwishtheboywerehereandthatIhadsomesalt，”hesaidaloud。

Shiftingtheweightofthelinetohisleftshoulderandkneelingcarefullyhewashedhishandintheoceanandhelditthere，submerged，formorethanaminutewatchingthebloodtrailawayandthesteadymovementofthewateragainsthishandastheboatmoved。

“Hehasslowedmuch，”hesaid。

Theoldmanwouldhavelikedtokeephishandinthesaltwaterlongerbuthewasafraidofanothersuddenlurchbythefishandhestoodupandbracedhimselfandheldhishandupagainstthesun。Itwasonlyalineburnthathadcuthisflesh。Butitwasintheworkingpartofhishand。Heknewhewouldneedhishandsbeforethiswasoverandhedidnotliketobecutbeforeitstarted。

“Now，”hesaid，whenhishandhaddried，“Imusteatthesmalltuna。Icanreachhimwiththegaffandeathimhereincomfort。”

Hekneltdownandfoundthetunaunderthesternwiththegaffanddrewittowardhimkeepingitclearofthecoiledlines。Holdingthelinewithhisleftshoulderagain，andbracingonhislefthandandarm，hetookthetunaoffthegaffhookandputthegaffbackinplace。Heputonekneeonthefishandcutstripsofdarkredmeatlongitudinallyfromthebackoftheheadtothetail。Theywerewedge-shapedstripsandhecutthemfromnexttothebackbonedowntotheedgeofthebelly。Whenhehadcutsixstripshespreadthemoutonthewoodofthebow，wipedhisknifeonhistrousers，andliftedthecarcassofthebonitobythetailanddroppeditoverboard。

“IdontthinkIcaneatanentireone，”hesaidanddrewhisknifeacrossoneofthestrips。Hecouldfeelthesteadyhardpullofthelineandhislefthandwascramped。Itdrewuptightontheheavycordandhelookedatitindisgust。

“Whatkindofahandisthat，”hesaid。“Crampthenifyouwant。Makeyourselfintoaclaw。Itwilldoyounogood。”Comeon，hethoughtandlookeddownintothedarkwaterattheslantoftheline。Eatitnowanditwillstrengthenthehand。Itisnotthehandsfaultandyouhavebeenmanyhourswiththefish。Butyoucanstaywithhimforever。Eatthebonitonow。

Hepickedupapieceandputitinhismouthandcheweditslowly。Itwasnotunpleasant。

Chewitwell，hethought，andgetallthejuices。Itwouldnotbebadtoeatwithalittlelimeorwithlemonorwithsalt。“Howdoyoufeel，hand?”heaskedthecrampedhandthatwasalmostasstiffasrigormortis。“Illeatsomemoreforyou。”

Heatetheotherpartofthepiecethathehadcutintwo。Hecheweditcarefullyandthenspatouttheskin。

“Howdoesitgo，hand?Orisittooearlytoknow?”

Hetookanotherfullpieceandchewedit。

“Itisastrongfull-bloodedfish，”hethought。“Iwasluckytogethiminsteadofdolphin。Dolphinistoosweet。Thisishardlysweetatallandallthestrengthisstillinit。”

Thereisnosenseinbeinganythingbutpracticalthough，hethought。IwishIhadsomesalt。AndIdonotknowwhetherthesunwillrotordrywhatisleft，soIhadbettereatitallalthoughIamnothungry。Thefishiscalmandsteady。IwilleatitallandthenIwillbeready。

“Bepatient，hand，”hesaid“，Idothisforyou。”

IwishIcouldfeedthefish，hethought。Heismybrother。ButImustkillhimandkeepstrongtodoit。Slowlyandconscientiouslyheateallofthewedge-shapedstripsoffish。

Hestraightenedup，wipinghishandonhistrousers。

“Now，”hesaid。“Youcanletthecordgo，hand，andIwillhandlehimwiththerightarmaloneuntilyoustopthatnonsense。”Heputhisleftfootontheheavylinethatthelefthandhadheldandlaybackagainstthepullagainsthisback。“Godhelpmetohavethecrampgo，”hesaid。“BecauseIdonotknowwhatthefishisgoingtodo。”

Butheseemscalm，hethought，andfollowinghisplan。Butwhatishisplan，hethought。Andwhatismine?MineImustimprovisetohisbecauseofhisgreatsize。IfhewilljumpIcankillhim。Buthestaysdownforever。ThenIwillstaydownwithhimforever。

Herubbedthecrampedhandagainsthistrousersandtriedtogentlethefingers。Butitwouldnotopen。Maybeitwillopenwiththesun，hethought，Maybeitwillopenwhenthestrongrawtunaisdigested。IfIhavetohaveit，Iwillopenit，costwhateveritcosts。ButIdonotwanttoopenitnowbyforce。Letitopenbyitselfandcomebackofitsownaccord。AfterallIabuseditmuchinthenightwhenitisnecessarytofreeandunitethevariouslines。

Helookedacrosstheseaandknewhowalonehewasnow。Buthecouldseetheprismsinthedeepdarkwaterandthelinestretchingaheadandthestrangeundulationofthecalm。Thecloudswerebuildingupnowforthetradewindandhelookedaheadandsawaflightofwildducksetchingthemselvesagainsttheskyoverthewater，thenblurring，thenetchingagainandheknewnomanwaseveraloneonthesea。

Hethoughtofhowsomemenfearedbeingoutofsightoflandinasmallboatandknewtheywererightinthemonthsofsuddenbadweather。Butnowtheywereinhurricanemonthsand，whentherearenohurricanes，theweatherofhurricanemonthsisthebestofalltheyear。

Ifthereisahurricaneyoualwaysseethesignsofitintheskyfordaysahead，ifyouareatsea。Theydonotseeitashorebecausetheydonotknowwhattolookfor，hethought。Thelandmustmakeadifferencetoo，intheshapeoftheclouds。Butwehavenohurricanecomingnow。