第7章 The Old Mans Victory (第2/2页)

Hs stra hat as far on th ack of hs had and h sank don nto th o th th pull of th ln as h flt th fsh turn.

You ork no,fsh,h thought.I'll tak you at th turn.

Th sa had rsn consdraly.But t as a far-athr rz and h had to hav t to gt ho.

“I'll just str south and st.”h sad.“A an s nvr lost at sa and t s a long sland.”

It as on th thrd turn that h sa th fsh frst.

H sa h frst as a dark shado that took so long to pass undr th oat that h could not lv ts lngth.

“No,”h sad.“ H can't that g.”

But h as that g and at th nd of ths crcl h ca to th surfac only thrty yards aay and th an sa hs tal out of atr.It as hghr than a g scyth lad and a vry pal lavndr aov th dark lu atr.It rakd ack and as th fsh sa just lo th surfac th old an could s hs hug ulk and th purpl strps that andd h.Hs dorsal fn as don and hs hug pctorals r sprad d.

On ths crcl th old an could s th fsh's y and th to gray suckng fsh that sa around h.Sots thy attachd thslvs to h.Sots thy dartd off. Sots thy ould s asly n hs shado.Thy r ach ovr thr ft long and hn thy sa fast thy lashd thr hol ods lk ls.

Th old an as satng no ut fro sothng ls sds th sun.On ach cal placd turn th fsh ad h as ganng ln and h as sur that n to turns or h ould hav a chanc to gt th harpoon n.

But I ust gt h clos, clos, clos, h thought. I ustn't try for th had.I ust gt th hart.

“B cal and strong,old an,”h sad.

On th nxt crcl th fsh's ack as out ut h as a lttl too far fro th oat.On th nxt crcl h as stll too far aay ut h as hghr out of atr and th old an as sur that y ganng so or ln h could hav h alongsd.

H had rggd hs harpoon long for and ts col of lght rop as n a round askt and th nd as ad fast to th tt n th o.

Th fsh as cong n on hs crcl no cal and autful lookng and only hs grat tal ovng.Th old an pulld on h all that h could to rng h closr.For just a ont th fsh turnd a lttl on hs sd.Thn h straghtnd hslf and gan anothr crcl.

“I ovd h,”th old an sad.“ I ovd h thn.”

H flt fant agan no ut h hld on th grat fsh all th stran that h could.I ovd h,h thought.May ths t I can gt h ovr.Pull,hands,h thought.Hold up,lgs.Last for ,had.Last for .You nvr nt.Ths t I'll pull h ovr.

But hn h put all of hs ffort on, startng t ll out for th fsh ca alongsd and pullng th all hs strngth, th fsh pulld part ay ovr and thn rghtd hslf and sa aay.

“Fsh,”th old an sad.“ Fsh,you ar gong to hav to d anyay.Do you hav to kll too?”

That ay nothng s accoplshd, h thought. Hs outh as too dry to spak ut h could not rach for th atr no.I ust gt h alongsd ths t,h thought.I a not good for any or turns.

Ys you ar,h told hslf.You'r good for vr.

On th nxt turn,h narly had h.But agan th fsh rghtd hslf and sa sloly aay.

You ar kllng fsh,th old an thought.But you hav a rght to.Nvr hav I sn a gratr,or or autful,or a calr or or nol thng than you,rothr.Co on and kll .I do not car ho klls ho.

No you ar gttng confusd n th had,h thought. You ust kp your had clar.Kp your had clar and kno ho to suffr lk a an.Or a fsh,h thought.

“Clar up,had,”h sad n a voc h could hardly har.“ Clar up.”

Tc or t as th sa on th turns.

I do not kno,th old an thought.H had n on th pont of flng hslf go ach t.I do not kno.But I ll try t onc or.

H trd t onc or and h flt hslf gong hn h turnd th fsh.Th fsh rghtd hslf and sa off agan sloly th th grat tal avng n th ar.

I'll try t agan, th old an prosd, although hs hands r ushy no and h could only s ll n flashs.

H trd t agan and t as th sa.So,h thought,and h flt hslf gong for h startd;I ll try t onc agan.

H took all hs pan and hat as lft of hs strngth and hs long gon prd and h put t aganst th fsh's agony and th fsh ca ovr onto hs sd and sa gntly on hs sd, hs ll alost touchng th plankng of th skff and startd to pass th oat,long,dp,d,slvr and arrd th purpl and ntrnal n th atr.

Th old an droppd th ln and put hs foot on t and lftd th harpoon as hgh as h could and drov t don th all hs strngth,and or strngth h had just suond, nto th fsh's sd just hnd th grat chst fn that ros hgh n th ar to th alttud of th an's chst.H flt th ron go n and h land on t and drov t furthr and thn pushd all hs ght aftr t.

Thn th fsh ca alv,th hs dath n h,and ros hgh out of th atr shong all hs grat lngth and dth and all hs por and hs auty.H sd to hang n th ar aov th old an n th skff.Thn h fll nto th atr th a crash that snt spray ovr th old an and ovr all of th skff.

Th old an flt fant and sck and h could not s ll. But h clard th harpoon ln and lt t run sloly through hs ra hands and,hn h could s,h sa th fsh as on hs ack th hs slvr lly up.Th shaft of th harpoon as projctng at an angl fro th fsh's shouldr and th sa as dscolorng th th rd of th lood fro hs hart.Frst t as dark as a shoal n th lu atr that as or than a l dp.Thn t sprad lk a cloud.Th fsh as slvr and stll and floatd th th avs.

Th old an lookd carfully n th glps of vson that h had. Thn h took to turns of th harpoon ln around th tt n th o and lad hs had on hs hands.

“Kp y had clar,”h sad aganst th ood of th o.“ I a a trd old an.But I hav klld ths fsh hch s y rothr and no I ust do th slav ork.”

No I ust prpar th nooss and th rop to lash h alongsd ,h thought.Evn f r to and sapd hr to load h and ald hr out,ths skff ould nvr hold h.I ust prpar vrythng,thn rng h n and lash h ll and stp th ast and st sal for ho.

H startd to pull th fsh n to hav h alongsd so that h could pass a ln through hs glls and out hs outh and ak hs had fast alongsd th o.I ant to s h, h thought,and to touch and to fl h.H s y fortun, h thought.But that s not hy I sh to fl h.I thnk I flt hs hart,h thought.Whn I pushd on th harpoon shaft th scond t.Brng h n no and ak h fast and gt th noos around hs tal and anothr around hs ddl to nd h to th skff.

“Gt to ork,old an,”h sad.H took a vry sall drnk of th atr.“ Thr s vry uch slav ork to don no that th fght s ovr.”

H lookd up at th sky and thn out to hs fsh.H lookd at th sun carfully.It s not uch or than noon,h thought.And th trad nd s rsng.Th lns all an nothng no.Th oy and I ll splc th hn ar ho.

“Co on,fsh,”h sad.But th fsh dd not co. Instad h lay thr allong no n th sas and th old an pulld th skff up onto h.

Whn h as vn th h and had th fsh's had aganst th o h could not lv hs sz.But h untd th harpoon rop fro th tt,passd t through th fsh's glls and out hs jas,ad a turn around hs sord thn passd th rop through th othr gll,ad anothr turn around th ll and knottd th doul rop and ad t fast to th tt n th o.H cut th rop thn and nt astrn to noos th tal.Th fsh had turnd slvr fro hs orgnal purpl and slvr,and th strps shod th sa pal volt color as hs tal.Thy r dr than a an's hand th hs fngrs sprad and th fsh's y lookd as dtachd as th rrors n a prscop or as a sant n a procsson.

“It as th only ay to kll h,”th old an sad.H as flng ttr snc th atr and h kn h ould not go aay and hs had as clar.H's ovr fftn hundrd pounds th ay h s,h thought.May uch or.If h drsss out to-thrds of that at thrty cnts a pound?

“I nd a pncl for that,”h sad.“My had s not that clar.But I thnk th grat DMaggo ould proud of today.I had no on spurs.But th hands and th ack hurt truly.”I ondr hat a on spur s,h thought.May hav th thout knong of t.

H ad th fsh fast to o and strn and to th ddl thart.H as so g t as lk lashng a uch ggr skff alongsd.H cut a pc of ln and td th fsh's lor ja aganst hs ll so hs outh ould not opn and thy ould sal as clanly as possl.Thn h stppd th ast and, th th stck that as hs gaff and th hs oo rggd,th patchd sal dr,th oat gan to ov,and half lyng n th strn h sald southst.