The Old Man And The Sea C11

　　Sometime before daylight something took one of the baits that were behind him. Heheard the stick break and the line begin to rush out over the gunwale of theskiff. In the darkness he loosened his sheath knife and taking all the strainof the fish on his left shoulder he leaned back and cut the line against thewood of the gunwale. Then he cut the other line closest to him and in the darkmade the loose ends of the reserve coils fast. He worked skillfully with theone hand and put his foot on the coils to hold them as he drew his knots tight.Now he had six reserve coils of line. There were two from each bait he hadsevered and the two from the bait the fish had taken and they were allconnected.

　　离天亮还有点时候，有什么东西咬住了他背后的一个鱼饵。他听见钓竿啪的折断了，于是那根钓索越过船舷朝外直溜。他摸黑拔出鞘中的刀子，用左肩承担着大鱼所有的拉力，身子朝后靠，就着木头的船舷，把那根钓索割断了。然后把另一根离他最近的钓索也割断了，摸黑把这两个没有放出去的钓索卷儿的断头系在一起。他用一只手熟练地干着，在牢牢地打结时，一只脚踩住了钓索卷儿，免得移动。他现在有六卷备用钓索了。他刚才割断的那两根有鱼饵的钓索各有两卷备用钓索，加上被大鱼咬住鱼饵的那根上的两卷，它们全都接在一起了。

　　Afterit is light, he thought, I will work back to the forty-fathom bait and cut itaway too and link up the reserve coils. I will have lost two hundred fathoms ofgood Catalan cardel and the hooks and leaders. That can be replaced. But whoreplaces this fish if I hook some fish and it cuts him off? I don‘t know what that fish was that took the bait just now. It could havebeen a marlin or a broadbill or a shark. I never felt him. I had to get rid ofhim too fast.

　　等天亮了，他想，我要好歹回到那根把鱼饵放在水下四十英寻深处的钓索边，把它也割断了，连结在那些备用钓索卷儿上。我将丢掉两百英寻出色的卡塔卢尼亚钓索，还有钓钩和导线。这些都是能再置备的。万一钓上了别的鱼，把这条大鱼倒搞丢了，那再往哪儿去找呢？我不知道刚才咬饵的是什么鱼。很可能是条大马林鱼，或者剑鱼，或者鲨鱼。我根本来不及琢磨。我不得不赶快把它摆脱掉。

　　Aloudhe said, "I wish I had the boy."

　　他说出声来：“但愿那孩子在这里。”

　　Butyou haven‘t got the boy, he thought. You have onlyyourself and you had better work back to the last line now, in the dark or notin the dark, and cut it away and hook up the two reserve coils.

　　可是孩子并不在这里，他想。你只有你自己一个人，你还是好歹回到最末的那根钓索边，不管天黑不黑，把它割断了，系上那两卷备用钓索。

　　Sohe did it. It was difficult in the dark and once the fish made a surge thatpulled him down on his face and make a cut below his eye. The blood ran downhis cheek a little way. But it coagulated and dried before it reached his chinand he worked his way back to the bow and rested against the wood. He adjustedthe sack and carefully worked the line so that it came across a new part of hisshoulders and, holding it anchored with his shoulders, he carefully felt thepull of the fish and then felt with his hand the progress of the skiff throughthe water.

　　他就这样做了。摸黑干很困难，有一回，那条大鱼掀动了一下，把他拖倒在地，脸朝下，眼睛下划破了一道口子。鲜血从他脸颊上淌下来。但还没流到下巴上就凝固了，干掉了，于是他挪动身子回到船头，靠在木船舷上歇息。他拉好麻袋，把钓索小心地挪到肩上另一个地方，用肩膀把它固定住，握住了小心地试试那鱼拉曳的份量，然后伸手到水里测度小船航行的速度。

　　Iwonder what he made that lurch for, he thought. The wire must have slipped onthe great hill of his back. Certainly his back cannot feel as badly as minedoes. But he cannot pull this skiff forever, no matter how great he is. Noweverything is cleared a way that might make trouble and I have a big reserve ofline; all that a man can ask.

　　不知道这鱼为什么刚才突然摇晃了一下，他想。敢情是钓索在它高高隆起的背脊上滑动了一下。它的背脊当然痛得及不上我的。然而不管它力气多大，总不能永远拖着这条小船跑吧。眼下凡是会惹出乱子来的东西都除掉了，我却还有好多备用的钓索，一个人还能有什么要求呢。

　　"Fish,"he said softly, aloud, "I‘ll stay with you until Iam dead."

　　“鱼啊，”他轻轻地说出声来，“我跟你奉陪到死。”

　　He‘ll stay with me too, I suppose, the old man thought and he waitedfor it to be light. It was cold now in the time before daylight and he pushedagainst the wood to be warm. I can do it as long as he can, he thought. And inthe first light the line extended out and down into the water. The boat movedsteadily and when the first edge of the sun rose it was on the old man‘s right shoulder.

　　依我看，它也要跟我奉陪到死的，老人想，他等待着天明。眼下正当破晓前的时分，天气很冷，他把身子紧贴着木船舷来取暖。它能熬多久，我也能熬多久，他想。天色微明中，钓索伸展着，朝下通到水中。小船平稳地移动着，初升的太阳一露边儿，阳光直射在老人的右肩上。

　　"He‘s headed north," the old man said. The current will have set usfar to the eastward, he thought. I wish he would turn with the current. Thatwould show that he was tiring.

　　“它在朝北走啊，”老人说。海流会把我们远远地向东方送去，他想。但愿它会随着海流拐弯。这样可以说明它越来越疲乏了。

　　Whenthe sun had risen further the old man realized that the fish was not tiring.There was only one favorable sign. The slant of the line showed he was swimmingat a lesser depth. That did not necessarily mean that he would jump.

　　等太阳升得更高了，老人发觉这鱼并不越来越疲乏。只有一个有利的征兆。钓索的斜度说明它正在较浅的地方游着。这不一定表示它会跃出水来。

　　Buthe might.

　　但它也许会这样。

　　"Godlet him jump," the old man said. "I have enough line to handlehim."

　　“天主啊，叫它跳跃吧，”老人说。“我的钓索够长，可以对付它。”