老人与海58 文本已添加

58

"I have thegaff now," he said. "But it will do no good. I have the two oars andthe tiller and the short club. "

“我现在还有那根鱼钩，"他说。"不过它没什么用处。我还有两把桨和那个舵把和那根短棍。”

Now they havebeaten me, he thought. I am too old to club sharks to death. But I will try itas long as I have the oars and the short club and the tiller.

它们如今可把我打败了，他想。我太老了，不能用棍子打死鲨鱼了。但是只要我有桨和短棍和舵把，我就要试试。

He put his handsin the water again to soak them. It was getting late in the afternoon and hesaw nothing but the sea and the sky. There was more wind in the sky than therehad been, and soon he hoped that he would see land.

他又把双手浸在水里泡着。下午渐渐过去，快近傍晚了，他除了海洋和天空，什么也看不见。空中的风比刚才大了，他指望不久就能看到陆地。

"You'retired, old man," he said. "You're tired inside. "

“你累乏了，老家伙，"他说。"你骨子里累乏了。”

The sharks did nothit him again until just before sunset.

直到快日落的时候，鲨鱼才再来袭击它。

The old man sawthe brown fins coming along the wide trail the fish must make in the water.

老人看见两片褐色的鳍正顺着那鱼在水里留下的很宽的臭迹游来。

They were not evenquartering on the scent. They were headed straight for the skiff swimming sideby side.

它们竟然不用到处来回搜索这臭迹。它们笔直地并肩朝小船游来。

He jammed thetiller, made the sheet fast and reached under the stern for the club.

他刹住了舵把，系紧帆脚索，伸手到船梢下去拿棍子。

It was an oarhandle from a broken oar sawed off to about two and a half feet in length.

它原是个桨把，是从一支断桨上锯下的，大约两英尺半长。

He could only useit effectively with one hand because of the grip of the handle and he took goodhold of it with his right hand, flexing his hand on it, as he watched thesharks come. They were both galanos.

因为它上面有个把手，他只能用一只手有效地使用，于是他就用右手好好儿攥住了它，弯着手按在上面，一面望着鲨鱼在过来。两条都是加拉诺鲨。

I must let thefirst one get a good hold and hit him on the point of the nose or straightacross the top of the head, he thought.

我必须让第一条鲨鱼好好咬住了才打它的鼻尖，或者直朝它头顶正中打去，他想。

The two sharksclosed together and as he saw the one nearest him open his jaws and sink theminto the silver side of the fish, he raised the club high and brought it downheavy and slamming onto the top of the shark's broad head.

条鲨鱼一起紧逼过来，他一看到离他较近的那条张开嘴直咬进那鱼的银色胁腹，就高高举起棍子，重重地打下去，砰的一声打在鲨鱼宽阔的头顶上。

He felt therubbery solidity as the club came down. But he felt the rigidity of bone tooand he struck the shark once more hard across the point of the nose as he sliddown from the fish.

两棍子落下去，他觉得好象打在坚韧的橡胶上。但他也感觉到坚硬的骨头，他就趁鲨鱼从那鱼身上朝下溜的当儿，再重重地朝它鼻尖上打了一下。

The other sharkhad been in and out and now came in again with his jaws wide.

另一条鲨鱼刚才窜来后就走了，这时又张大了嘴扑上来。它直撞在鱼身上，闭上两颚，

The old man couldsee pieces of the meat of the fish spilling white from the corner of his jawsas he bumped the fish and closed his jaws.

老人看见一块块白色的鱼肉从它嘴角漏出来。

He swung at himand hit only the head and the shark looked at him and wrenched the meat loose.

他抡起棍子朝它打去，只打中了头部，鲨鱼朝他看看，把咬在嘴里的肉一口撕下了。