ust then,atching his lines,he sa one of the rojecting green sticks di sharly.

“es,”he said.

“es,”and shied his oars ithout buming th reached out for the line and held it softly beteen the thumb and forefinger of his righ felt no strain nor eight and he held the lin it cam time it as a tentative ull,not solid nor heavy,and he kne exactly hat i hundred fathoms don a marlin as eating the sardines that covered the oint and the shank of the hook here the hand-forged hook rojected from the head of the smal old man held the line delicately,and softly,ith his left hand,unleashed it from th he could let it run through his fingers ithout the fish feeling an far out,he must be huge in this month,h them, ea fresh they are and you don there six hundred feet in that cold ater in th another turn in the dark and come back and ea felt the light delicate ulling and then a harder ull hen a sardine's head must have been more difficult to break from th there as nothing.

“ome on,”the old man said aloud.

“ake anothe smel't they lovely?

at them good no and then there is th and cold an't be shy, them.”

e aited ith the line beteen his thumb and his finger,atching it and the other lines at the same time for the fish might have sum u o came the same delicate ulling touch again.

“e'll take it,”the old man said aloud.

“od hel him to take it.”

e did not take i as gone and the old man felt nothing.

“e can't have gone,”he said.

“hrist knos he can't hav's making he has been hooked before and he remembers something of it.”

hen he felt the gentle touch on the line and he as hay.

“t as only his turn,”he said.

“ e'll take it.”

e as hay feeling the gentle ulling and then he felt something hard and unbelievabl as the eight of the fish and he let the line sli don,don,don,unrolling off the first of the to reserv it ent don,sliing lightly through the old man's fingers,he still could feel the great eight,though the ressure of his thumb and finger ere almost imercetible .

“hat a fish,”he said.

“ e has it sideays in his mouth no and he is moving off ith it.”

hen he ill turn and sallo it,h did not say that because he kne that if you said a good thing it might no kne hat a huge fish this as and he thought of him moving aay in the darkness ith the tuna held crossise in hi that moment he felt him sto moving but the eight as stil the eight increased and he gave mor tightened the ressure of his thumb and finger for a moment and the eight increased and as going straight don.

“e's taken it,”he said.

“ o 'll let him eat it ell.”

e let the line sli through his fingers hile he reached don ith his left hand and made fast the free end of the to reserve coils to the loo of the to reserve coils of the nex he a had three forty-fathom coils of line in reserve no,as ell as the coil he as using.

“at it a little more,”he said.

“ at it ell.”

at it so that the oint of the hook goes into your heart and kills you,he thought,ome u easy and let me ut the haroon int you ready?

ave you been long enough at table?

“o!”e said aloud and struck hard ith both hands,gained a yard of line and then struck again and again, singing ith each arm alternately on the cord ith all the strength of his arms and the ivoted eight of hi fish just moved aay sloly and the old man could not raise him a line as strong and made for heavy fish and he held it against his back until it as so taut that beads of ater ere juming from it.

hen it began to make a slo hissing sound in the ater and he still held it,bracing himself against the thart and leaning back against th boat began to move sloly off toard th fish moved steadily and they travelled sloly on the cal other baits ere still in the ater but there as nothing to be done.

“ ish had the boy,”the old man said aloud.

“'m being toed by a fish and 'm the toin make the lin then he could break it.

must hold him all can and give him line hen he must have it.

hank od he is travelling and not going don.”

hat ill do if he decides to go don, don' 'll do if he sounds and dies don' 'll d are lenty of things can do.

e held the line against his back and atched its slant in the ater and the skiff moving steadily to th ill kill him,the old ma can't do thi four hours later the fish as still simming steadily out to sea,toing the skiff,and the old man as still braced solidly ith the line across his back.

“t as noon hen hooked him,”he said.

“ nd have never seen him.”
本章未完，请翻下一页继续阅读.........