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第4章 The Big Fish Bit the Hook（第1页）

Justthen，watchinghislines，hesawoneoftheprojectinggreensticksdipsharply。

“Yes，”hesaid。“Yes，”andshippedhisoarswithoutbumpingtheboat。Hereachedoutforthelineandhelditsoftlybetweenthethumbandforefingerofhisrighthand。Hefeltnostrainnorweightandheheldthelinelightly。Thenitcameagain。Thistimeitwasatentativepull，notsolidnorheavy，andheknewexactlywhatitwas。Onehundredfathomsdownamarlinwaseatingthesardinesthatcoveredthepointandtheshankofthehookwherethehand-forgedhookprojectedfromtheheadofthesmalltuna。

Theoldmanheldthelinedelicately，andsoftly，withhislefthand，unleasheditfromthestick。Nowhecouldletitrunthroughhisfingerswithoutthefishfeelinganytension。

Thisfarout，hemustbehugeinthismonth，hethought。Eatthem，fish。Eatthem。Pleaseeatthem。Howfreshtheyareandyoudowntheresixhundredfeetinthatcoldwaterinthedark。Makeanotherturninthedarkandcomebackandeatthem。

Hefeltthelightdelicatepullingandthenaharderpullwhenasardinesheadmusthavebeenmoredifficulttobreakfromthehook。Thentherewasnothing。

“Comeon，”theoldmansaidaloud。“Makeanotherturn。Justsmellthem。Arenttheylovely?Eatthemgoodnowandthenthereisthetuna。Hardandcoldandlovely。Dontbeshy，fish。Eatthem。”

Hewaitedwiththelinebetweenhisthumbandhisfinger，watchingitandtheotherlinesatthesametimeforthefishmighthaveswumupordown。Thencamethesamedelicatepullingtouchagain。

“Helltakeit，”theoldmansaidaloud。“Godhelphimtotakeit。”

Hedidnottakeitthough。Hewasgoneandtheoldmanfeltnothing。

“Hecanthavegone，”hesaid。“Christknowshecanthavegone。Hesmakingaturn。Maybehehasbeenhookedbeforeandherememberssomethingofit。”

Thenhefeltthegentletouchonthelineandhewashappy。

“Itwasonlyhisturn，”hesaid。“Helltakeit。”

Hewashappyfeelingthegentlepullingandthenhefeltsomethinghardandunbelievablyheavy。Itwastheweightofthefishandheletthelineslipdown，down，down，unrollingoffthefirstofthetworeservecoils。Asitwentdown，slippinglightlythroughtheoldmansfingers，hestillcouldfeelthegreatweight，thoughthepressureofhisthumbandfingerwerealmostimperceptible。

“Whatafish，”hesaid。“Hehasitsidewaysinhismouthnowandheismovingoffwithit。”

Thenhewillturnandswallowit，hethought。Hedidnotsaythatbecauseheknewthatifyousaidagoodthingitmightnothappen。Heknewwhatahugefishthiswasandhethoughtofhimmovingawayinthedarknesswiththetunaheldcrosswiseinhismouth。Atthatmomenthefelthimstopmovingbuttheweightwasstillthere。Thentheweightincreasedandhegavemoreline。Hetightenedthepressureofhisthumbandfingerforamomentandtheweightincreasedandwasgoingstraightdown。

“Hestakenit，”hesaid。“NowIlllethimeatitwell。”

Heletthelineslipthroughhisfingerswhilehereacheddownwithhislefthandandmadefastthefreeendofthetworeservecoilstotheloopofthetworeservecoilsofthenextline。Nowhewasready。Hehadthreeforty-fathomcoilsoflineinreservenow，aswellasthecoilhewasusing。

“Eatitalittlemore，”hesaid。“Eatitwell。”

Eatitsothatthepointofthehookgoesintoyourheartandkillsyou，hethought，Comeupeasyandletmeputtheharpoonintoyou。Allright。Areyouready?Haveyoubeenlongenoughattable?

“Now!”Hesaidaloudandstruckhardwithbothhands，gainedayardoflineandthenstruckagainandagain，swingingwitheacharmalternatelyonthecordwithallthestrengthofhisarmsandthepivotedweightofhisbody。

Nothinghappened。Thefishjustmovedawayslowlyandtheoldmancouldnotraisehimaninch。Hislinewasstrongandmadeforheavyfishandhehelditagainsthisbackuntilitwassotautthatbeadsofwaterwerejumpingfromit。Thenitbegantomakeaslowhissingsoundinthewaterandhestillheldit，bracinghimselfagainstthethwartandleaningbackagainstthepull。Theboatbegantomoveslowlyofftowardthenorthwest。

Thefishmovedsteadilyandtheytravelledslowlyonthecalmwater。Theotherbaitswerestillinthewaterbuttherewasnothingtobedone。

“IwishIhadtheboy，”theoldmansaidaloud。“ImbeingtowedbyafishandImthetowingbitt。Icouldmakethelinefast。Butthenhecouldbreakit。ImustholdhimallIcanandgivehimlinewhenhemusthaveit。ThankGodheistravellingandnotgoingdown。”

WhatIwilldoifhedecidestogodown，Idontknow。WhatIlldoifhesoundsanddiesIdontknow。ButIlldosomething。ThereareplentyofthingsIcando。

Heheldthelineagainsthisbackandwatcheditsslantinthewaterandtheskiffmovingsteadilytothenorthwest。

Thiswillkillhim，theoldmanthought。Hecantdothisforever。Butfourhourslaterthefishwasstillswimmingsteadilyouttosea，towingtheskiff，andtheoldmanwasstillbracedsolidlywiththelineacrosshisback。

“ItwasnoonwhenIhookedhim，”hesaid。“AndIhaveneverseenhim。”

Hehadpushedhisstrawhatharddownonhisheadbeforehehookedthefishanditwascuttinghisforehead。Hewasthirstytooandhegotdownonhiskneesand，beingcarefulnottojerkontheline，movedasfarintothebowashecouldgetandreachedthewaterbottlewithonehand。Heopeneditanddrankalittle。Thenherestedagainstthebow。Herestedsittingontheunsteppedmastandsailandtriednottothinkbutonlytoendure。

Thenhelookedbehindhimandsawthatnolandwasvisible。Thatmakesnodifference，hethought。IcanalwayscomeinontheglowfromHavana。Therearetwomorehoursbeforethesunsetsandmaybehewillcomeupbeforethat。Ifhedoesntmaybehewillcomeupwiththemoon。Ifhedoesnotdothatmaybehewillcomeupwiththesunrise。IhavenocrampsandIfeelstrong。Itishethathasthehookinhismouth。Butwhatafishtopulllikethat。Hemusthavehismouthshuttightonthewire。IwishIcouldseehim。IwishIcouldseehimonlyoncetoknowwhatIhaveagainstme。

Thefishneverchangedhiscoursenorhisdirectionallthatnightasfarasthemancouldtellfromwatchingthestars。Itwascoldafterthesunwentdownandtheoldmanssweatdriedcoldonhisbackandhisarmsandhisoldlegs。Duringthedayhehadtakenthesackthatcoveredthebaitboxandspreaditinthesuntodry。Afterthesunwentdownhetieditaroundhisnecksothatithungdownoverhisbackandhecautiouslyworkeditdownunderthelinethatwasacrosshisshouldersnow。Thesackcushionedthelineandhehadfoundawayofleaningforwardagainstthebowsothathewasalmostcomfortable。Thepositionactuallywasonlysomewhatlessintolerable;buthethoughtofitasalmostcomfortable。Icandonothingwithhimandhecandonothingwithme，hethought。Notaslongashekeepsthisup。

Oncehestoodupandurinatedoverthesideoftheskiffandlookedatthestarsandcheckedhiscourse。Thelineshowedlikeaphosphorescentstreakinthewaterstraightoutfromhisshoulders。TheyweremovingmoreslowlynowandtheglowofHavanawasnotsostrong，sothatheknewthecurrentmustbecarryingthemtotheeastward。IfIlosetheglareofHavanawemustbegoingmoretotheeastward，hethought。ForifthefishscourseheldtrueImustseeitformanymorehours。Iwonderhowthebaseballcameoutinthegrandleaguestoday，hethought。Itwouldbewonderfultodothiswitharadio。Thenhethought，thinkofitalways。Thinkofwhatyouaredoing。Youmustdonothingstupid。

Thenhesaidaloud，“IwishIhadtheboy。Tohelpmeandtoseethis。”

Nooneshouldbealoneintheiroldage，hethought。Butitisunavoidable。Imustremembertoeatthetunabeforehespoilsinordertokeepstrong。Remember，nomatterhowlittleyouwantto，thatyoumusteathiminthemorning。Remember，hesaidtohimself。

Duringthenighttwoporpoisecamearoundtheboatandhecouldhearthemrollingandblowing。Hecouldtellthedifferencebetweentheblowingnoisethemalemadeandthesighingblowofthefemale。

“Theyaregood，”hesaid。“Theyplayandmakejokesandloveoneanother。Theyareourbrothersliketheflyingfish。”

Thenhebegantopitythegreatfishthathehadhooked。Heiswonderfulandstrangeandwhoknowshowoldheis，hethought。NeverhaveIhadsuchastrongfishnoronewhoactedsostrangely。Perhapsheistoowisetojump。Hecouldruinmebyjumpingorbyawildrush。Butperhapshehasbeenhookedmanytimesbeforeandheknowsthatthisishowheshouldmakehisfight。Hecannotknowthatitisonlyonemanagainsthim，northatitisanoldman。Butwhatagreatfishheisandwhathewillbringinthemarketifthefleshisgood。Hetookthebaitlikeamaleandhepullslikeamaleandhisfighthasnopanicinit。IwonderifhehasanyplansorifheisjustasdesperateasIam?

Herememberedthetimehehadhookedoneofapairofmarlin。Themalefishalwaysletthefemalefishfeedfirstandthehookedfish，thefemale，madeawild，panic-stricken，despairingfightthatsoonexhaustedher，andallthetimethemalehadstayedwithher，crossingthelineandcirclingwithheronthesurface。Hehadstayedsoclosethattheoldmanwasafraidhewouldcutthelinewithhistailwhichwassharpasascytheandalmostofthatsizeandshape。Whentheoldmanhadgaffedherandclubbedher，holdingtherapierbillwithitssandpaperedgeandclubbingheracrossthetopofherheaduntilhercolorturnedtoacoloralmostlikethebackingofmirrors，andthen，withtheboysaid，hoistedheraboard，themalefishhadstayedbythesideoftheboat。Then，whiletheoldmanwasclearingthelinesandpreparingtheharpoon，themalefishjumpedhighintotheairbesidetheboattoseewherethefemalewasandthenwentdowndeep，hislavenderwings，thatwerehispectoralfins，spreadwideandallhiswidelavenderstripesshowing。Hewasbeautiful，theoldmanremembered，andhehadstayed。

ThatwasthesaddestthingIeversawwiththem，theoldmanthought。Theboywassadtooandwebeggedherpardonandbutcheredherpromptly。

“Iwishtheboywashere，”hesaidaloudandsettledhimselfagainsttheroundedplanksofthebowandfeltthestrengthofthegreatfishthroughthelineheheldacrosshisshouldersmovingsteadilytowardwhateverhehadchosen。

Whenonce，throughmytreachery，ithadbeennecessarytohimtomakeachoice，theoldmanthought。