平凡文学

第4章 The Big Fish Bit the Hook（第1页）

Justthen，watchinghislines，hesawoneoftheprojectinggreensticksdipsharply.

“Yes，”hesaid.“Yes，”andshippedhisoarswithoutbumpingtheboat.Hereachedoutforthelineandhelditsoftlybetweenthethumbandforefingerofhisrighthand.Hefeltnostrainnorweightandheheldthelinelightly.Thenitcameagain.Thistimeitwasatentativepull，notsolidnorheavy，andheknewexactlywhatitwas.Onehundredfathomsdownamarlinwaseatingthesardinesthatcoveredthepointandtheshankofthehookwherethehand-forgedhookprojectedfromtheheadofthesmalltuna.

Theoldmanheldthelinedelicately，andsoftly，withhislefthand，unleasheditfromthestick.Nowhecouldletitrunthroughhisfingerswithoutthefishfeelinganytension.

Thisfarout，hemustbehugeinthismonth，hethought.Eatthem，fish.EatthePleaseeattheHowfreshtheyareandyoudowntheresixhundredfeetinthatcoldwaterinthedark.Makeanotherturninthedarkandcomebackandeatthe

Hefeltthelightdelicatepullingandthenaharderpullwhenasardinesheadmusthavebeenmoredifficulttobreakfromthehook.Thentherewasnothing.

“Comeon，”theoldmansaidaloud.“Makeanotherturn.JustsmelltheArenttheylovely?Eatthemgoodnowandthenthereisthetuna.Hardandcoldandlovely.Dontbeshy，fish.Eatthe”

Hewaitedwiththelinebetweenhisthumbandhisfinger，watchingitandtheotherlinesatthesametimeforthefishmighthaveswumupordown.Thencamethesamedelicatepullingtouchagain.

“Helltakeit，”theoldmansaidaloud.“Godhelphimtotakeit.”

Hedidnottakeitthough.Hewasgoneandtheoldmanfeltnothing.

“Hecanthavegone，”hesaid.“Christknowshecanthavegone.Hesmakingaturn.Maybehehasbeenhookedbeforeandherememberssomethingofit.”

Thenhefeltthegentletouchonthelineandhewashappy.

“Itwasonlyhisturn，”hesaid.“Helltakeit.”

Hewashappyfeelingthegentlepullingandthenhefeltsomethinghardandunbelievablyheavy.Itwastheweightofthefishandheletthelineslipdown，down，down，unrollingoffthefirstofthetworeservecoils.Asitwentdown，slippinglightlythroughtheoldmansfingers，hestillcouldfeelthegreatweight，thoughthepressureofhisthumbandfingerwerealmostimperceptible.

“Whatafish，”hesaid.“Hehasitsidewaysinhismouthnowandheismovingoffwithit.”

Thenhewillturnandswallowit，hethought.Hedidnotsaythatbecauseheknewthatifyousaidagoodthingitmightnothappen.Heknewwhatahugefishthiswasandhethoughtofhimmovingawayinthedarknesswiththetunaheldcrosswiseinhismouth.Atthatmomenthefelthimstopmovingbuttheweightwasstillthere.Thentheweightincreasedandhegavemoreline.Hetightenedthepressureofhisthumbandfingerforamomentandtheweightincreasedandwasgoingstraightdown.

“Hestakenit，”hesaid.“NowIlllethimeatitwell.”

Heletthelineslipthroughhisfingerswhilehereacheddownwithhislefthandandmadefastthefreeendofthetworeservecoilstotheloopofthetworeservecoilsofthenextline.Nowhewasready.Hehadthreeforty-fathomcoilsoflineinreservenow，aswellasthecoilhewasusing.

“Eatitalittlemore，”hesaid.“Eatitwell.”

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.“AndIhaveneverseenhi”

Hehadpushedhisstrawhatharddownonhisheadbeforehehookedthefishanditwascuttinghisforehead.Hewasthirstytooandhegotdownonhiskneesand，beingcarefulnottojerkontheline，movedasfarintothebowashecouldgetandreachedthewaterbottlewithonehand.Heopeneditanddrankalittle.Thenherestedagainstthebow.Herestedsittingontheunsteppedmastandsailandtriednottothinkbutonlytoendure.

Thenhelookedbehindhimandsawthatnolandwasvisible.Thatmakesnodifference，hethought.IcanalwayscomeinontheglowfromHavana.Therearetwomorehoursbeforethesunsetsandmaybehewillcomeupbeforethat.Ifhedoesntmaybehewillcomeupwiththemoon.Ifhedoesnotdothatmaybehewillcomeupwiththesunrise.IhavenocrampsandIfeelstrong.Itishethathasthehookinhismouth.Butwhatafishtopulllikethat.Hemusthavehismouthshuttightonthewire.IwishIcouldseehiIwishIcouldseehimonlyoncetoknowwhatIhaveagainstme.

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.

请勿开启浏览器阅读模式，否则将导致章节内容缺失及无法阅读下一章。

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