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第4章 The Big Fish Bit the Hook（第2页）

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.