The Old Man and The Sea 老人与海-Part 13

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Part 13

A small bird came toward the skiff from the north. He was a warbler and flying very low over the water. The old man could see that he was very tired.

一只小鸟从北方朝向船边飞了过来,那是一只莺,低低地飞在水面上。老人看得出来它已经很疲累了。

The bird made the stern of the boat and rested there. Then he flew around the old man's head and rested on the line where he was more comfortable. "How old are you?"

the old man asked the bird. "Is this your first trip?" The bird looked at him when he spoke. He was too tired even to examine the line and he teetered on it as his delicate feet gripped it fast. "It's steady," the old man told him. "It's too steady. You shouldn't be that tired after a windless night. What are birds coming to?"

鸟儿飞向船尾,在那儿歇息。然后它在老人头上盘旋,最后停在让它感到较舒服的鱼在线。 「你几岁了?」老人问小鸟。「这是不是你头一次出远门?」鸟儿望着说话的老人。它已疲 倦得没有精神去检查线绳,就用它那纤弱的小爪子紧紧地抓住线绳,在上面晃来晃去。「今 天天气很稳定。」老人告诉它。「真得很稳定啊。经过这样一个无风的夜晚,你应该不致于 这么疲倦啊,你们鸟儿都在做什么呢?」

The hawks, he thought, that come out to sea to meet them. But he said nothing of this to the bird who could not understand him anyway and who would learn about the hawks soon enough. "Take a good rest, small bird," he said. "Then go in and take your chance like any man or bird or fish." It encouraged him to talk because his back had stiffened in the night and it hurt truly now. "Stay at my house if you like, bird," he said. "I am sorry I cannot hoist the sail and take you in with the small breeze that is rising. But I am with a friend."

他想,一定是有老鹰出海捕捉小鸟。但是他没有对小鸟说,因为它反正也不会懂,而且它很 快就会见识到了。「小鸟儿啊!好好休息吧。」他说:「接下来,你就得再启程去碰碰运气,就像任何一个人、一只鸟、或一条鱼一样。」他的背经过一夜已经僵硬了,现在正发着要命 的疼痛,使得他直想开口说话。「鸟啊,只要你喜欢的话就留在我的屋子里好了,」他说。 「我很抱歉没办法乘着微风把帆升起来,把你接进来,因为我正陪着一个朋友呢。」

Just then the fish gave a sudden lurch that pulled the old man down onto the bow and would have pulled him overboard if he had not braced himself and given some line. The bird had flown up when the line jerked and the old man had not even seen him go. He felt the line carefully with his right hand and noticed his hand was bleeding. "Something hurt him then," he said aloud and pulled back on the line to see if he could turn the fish. But when he was touching the breaking point he held steady and settled back against the strain of the line.

正在那个时候,那条鱼又突然乱动了起来,拖着老人跌撞到船头去,如果当时他没坐稳,又 没有快速地放线的话,现在可能已经被拖下水了。当鱼线猛然被拉动的时候,鸟飞了起来,老人甚至还没有机会看到它飞走哩。他用右手小心地摸摸鱼线,却发现他的右手正在流血。 「它刚才不知被什么弄痛了。」他大声地说,同时把线往后拉,看看是否能够改变鱼的方向。 但是,当他把绳子拉到绷裂点上的时候,就稳稳地把它握紧,然后,调整好姿势,用向后靠 的力量对抗鱼的拉力。

"You're feeling it now, fish," he said. "And so, God knows, am I." He looked around for the bird now because he would have liked him for company. The bird was gone.

You did not stay long, the man thought. But it is rougher where you are going until you make the shore. How did I let the fish cut me with that one quick pull he made? I must be getting very stupid. Or perhaps I was looking at the small bird and thinking of him. Now I will pay attention to my work and then I must eat the tuna so that I will not have a failure of strength.

「鱼啊!你现在开始有感觉了吧!」他说。「上帝知道,我也一样有感觉了。」他四周张望 寻找那只鸟儿的踪迹,如果一直有它作伴该有多好。但是,鸟儿已消失的无影无踪了。老人 心想,你在这儿没停留多久就走了。但是,在你飞上岸边之前,你所去的任何地方都比这儿 艰险。我怎么会让鱼才猛拉了那么一下就弄出一个伤口来呢?我一定是愈来愈笨了。或许是 因为我把视线和注意力放在那只小鸟上的关系吧。从现在开始,我要全神贯注在我的工作上,而且我必须吃鲔鱼,来保持体力。

"I wish the boy were here and that I had some salt," he said aloud.

「真希望小男孩能在这里,而且真希望我还带了些盐来。」他大声地说。