it was getting into the afternoon and the boat still moved slowly and steadily.

时间已是下午，船依旧缓慢而稳定地移动着。

but there was an added drag now from the easterly breeze and the old man rode gently with the small sea and the hurt of the cord across his back came to him easily and smoothly.

不过这时东风给船增加了一份阻力，老人随着不大的海浪缓缓漂流，钓索勒在他背上的感觉变得舒适而温和些了。

once in the afternoon the line started to rise again. but the fish only continued to swim at a slightly higher level. the sun was on the old man‘s left arm and shoulder and on his back. so he knew the fish had turned east of north.

下午有一回，钓索又升上来了。可是那鱼不过是在稍微高一点的平面上继续游着。太阳晒在老人的左胳臂和左肩和背脊上。所以他知道这鱼转向东北方了。

now that he had seen him once, he could picture the fish swimming in the water with his purple pectoral fins set wide as wings and the great erect tail slicing through the dark. i wonder how much he sees at that depth, the old man thought.

既然这鱼他看见过一回，他就能想象它在水里游的样子，它那翅膀般的胸鳍大张着，直竖的大尾巴划破黝黑的海水。不知道它在那样深的海里能看见多少东西，老人想。

his eye is huge and a horse, with much less eye, can see in the dark. once i could see quite well in the dark. not in the absolute dark. but almost as a cat sees.

它的眼睛真大，马的眼睛要小得多，但在黑暗里看得见东西。从前我在黑暗里能看得很清楚。可不是在乌漆麻黑的地方。不过简直能象猫一样看东西。

the sun and his steady movement of his fingers had uncramped his left hand now completely and he began to shift more of the strain to it and he shrugged the muscles of his back to shift the hurt of the cord a little.

阳光和他手指不断的活动，使他那抽筋的左手这时完全复原了，他就着手让它多负担一点拉力，并且耸耸背上的肌肉，使钓索挪开一点儿，把痛处换个地方。

"if you‘re not tired, fish," he said aloud, "you must be very strange."

“你要是没累乏的话，鱼啊，”他说出声来，“那你真是不可思议啦。”

he felt very tired now and he knew the night would come soon and he tried to think of other things. he thought of the big leagues, to him they were the gran ligas, and he knew that the yankees of new york were playing the tigres of detro it.

他这时感到非常疲乏，他知道夜色就要降临，所以竭力想些别的事儿。他想到棒球的两大联赛，就是他用西班牙语所说的granligas，他知道纽约市的扬基队正在迎战底特律的老虎队。

this is the second day now that i do not know the result of the juegos, he thought. but i must have confidence and i must be worthy of the great dimaggio who does all things perfectly even with the pain of the bone spur in his heel.

这是联赛的第二天，可我不知道比赛的结果如何。但是我一定要有信心，一定要对得起那了不起的迪马吉奥，他即使脚后跟长了骨刺，在疼痛，也能把一切做得十全十美。

what is a bone spur? he asked himself. un espuela de hueso. we do not have them. can it be as painful as the spur of a fighting cock in one‘s heel? i do not think i could endure that or the loss of the eye and of both eyes and continue to fight as the fighting cocks do. man is not much beside the great birds and beasts. still i would rather be that beast down there in the darkness of the sea.

骨刺是什么玩意儿？他问自己。西班牙语叫做unespuela－dehueso。我们没有这玩意儿。它痛起来跟斗鸡脚上装的距铁刺扎进人的脚后跟时一样厉害吗？我想我是忍受不了这种痛苦的，也不能象斗鸡那样，一只眼睛或两只被啄瞎后仍旧战斗下去。人跟伟大的鸟兽相比，真算不上什么。我还是情愿做那只待在黑暗的深水里的动物。

"unless sharks come," he said aloud. "if sharks come, god pity him and me."

“除非有鲨鱼来，”他说出声来。“如果有鲨鱼来，愿天主怜悯它和我吧。”

do you believe the great dimaggio would stay with a fish as long as i will stay with this one? he thought. i am sure he would and more since he is young and strong. also his father was a fisherman. but would the bone spur hurt him too much?

你以为那了不起的迪马吉奥能守着一条鱼，象我守着这一条一样长久吗？他想。我相信他能，而且更长久，因为他年轻力壮。加上他父亲当过渔夫。不过骨刺会不会使他痛得太厉害？

"i do not know," he said aloud. "i never had a bone spur."

“我说不上来，”他说出声来。“我从来没有长过骨刺。”

as the sun set he remembered, to give himself more confidence, the time in the tavern at casablanca when he had played the hand game with the great negro from cienfuegos who was the strongest man on the docks. they had gone one day and one night with their elbows on a chalk line on the table and their forearms straight up and their hands gripped tight. each one was trying to force the other‘s hand down onto the table. there was much betting and people went in and out of the room under the kerosene lights and he had looked at the arm and hand of the negro and at the negro‘s face. they changed the referees every four hours after the fist eight so that the referees could sleep. blood came out from under the fingernails of both his and the negro‘s hands and they looked each other in the eye and at their hands and forearms and the bettors went in and out of the room and sat on high chairs against the wall and watched. the walls were painted bright blue and were of wood and the lamps threw their shadows against them. the negro‘s shadow was huge and it moved on the wall as the breeze moved the lamps.

太阳落下去的时候，为了给自己增强信心，他回想起那回在卡萨布兰卡的一家酒店里，跟那个码头上力气最大的人，从西恩富戈斯来的大个子黑人比手劲的光景。整整一天一夜，他们把手拐儿搁在桌面一道粉笔线上，胳膊朝上伸直，两只手紧握着。双方都竭力将对方的手使劲朝下压到桌面上。好多人在赌谁胜谁负，人们在室内的煤油灯下走出走进，他打量着黑人的胳膊和手，还有这黑人的脸。最初的八小时过后，他们每四小时换一个裁判员，好让裁判员轮流睡觉。他和黑人手上的指甲缝里都渗出血来，他们俩正视着彼此的眼睛，望着手和胳膊，打赌的人在屋里走出走进，坐在靠墙的高椅子上旁观。四壁漆着明亮的蓝色，是木制的板壁，几盏灯把他们的影子投射在墙上。黑人的影子非常大，随着微风吹动挂灯，这影子也在墙上移动着。

the odds would change back and forth all night and they fed the negro rum and lighted cigarettes for him. then the negro, after the rum, would try for a tremendous effort and once he had the old man, who was not an old man then but was santiago el campeon , nearly three inches off balance. but the old man had raised his hand up to dead even again. he was sure then that he had the negro, who was a fine man and a great athlete, beaten. and at daylight when the bettors were asking that it be called a draw and the referee was shaking his head, he had unleashed his effort and forced the hand of the negro down and down until it rested on the wood. the match had started on a sunday morning and ended on a monday morning.

一整夜，赌注的比例来回变换着，人们把朗姆酒送到黑人嘴边，还替他点燃香烟。黑人喝了朗姆酒，就拚命地使出劲儿来，有一回把老人的手（他当时还不是个老人，而是“冠军”圣地亚哥）扳下去将近三英寸。但老人又把手扳回来，恢复势均力敌的局面。他当时确信自己能战胜这黑人，这黑人是个好样的，伟大的运动家。天亮时，打赌的人们要求当和局算了，裁判员摇头不同意，老人却使出浑身的力气来，硬是把黑人的手一点点朝下扳，直到压在桌面上。这场比赛是在一个礼拜天的早上开始的，直到礼拜一早上才结束。

many of the bettors had asked for a draw because they had to go to work on the docks loading sacks of sugar or at the havana coal company.

好多打赌的人要求算是和局，因为他们得上码头去干活，把麻袋装的糖装上船，或者上哈瓦那煤行去工作。

otherwise everyone would have wanted it to go to a finish. but he had finished it anyway and before anyone had to go to work.

要不然人人都会要求比赛到底的。但是他反正把它结束了，而且赶在任何人上工之前。

for a long time after that everyone had called him the champion and there had been a return match in the spring. but not much money was bet and he had won it quite easily since he had broken the confidence of the negro from cienfuegos in the first match. after that he had a few matches and then no more. he decided that he could beat anyone if he wanted to badly enough and he decided that it was bad for his right hand for fishing. he had tried a few practice matches with his left hand. but his left hand had always been a traitor and would not do what he called on it to do and he did not trust it.

此后好一阵子，人人都管他叫“冠军”，第二年春天又举行了一场比赛。不过打赌的数目不大，他很容易就赢了，因为他在第一场比赛中打垮了那个西恩富戈斯来的黑人的自信心。此后，他又比赛过几次，以后就此不比赛了。他认为如果一心想要做到的话，他能够打败任何人，他还认为，这对他要用来钓鱼的右手有害。他曾尝试用左手作了几次练习赛。但是他的左手一向背叛他，不愿听他的吩咐行动，他不信任它。

the sun will bake it out well now, he thought. it should not cramp on me again unless it gets too cold in the night. i wonder what this night will bring.

这会儿太阳就会把手好好晒干的，他想。它不会再抽筋了，除非夜里太冷。不知道这一夜会发生什么事。

an airplane passed overhead on its course to miami and he watched its shadow scaring up the schools of flying fish.

一架飞机在他头上飞过，正循着航线飞向迈阿密，他看着它的影子惊起成群成群的飞鱼。

"with so much flying fish there should be dolphin," he said, and leaned back on the line to see if it was possible to gain any of his fish. but he could not and it stayed at the hardness and water-drop shivering that preceded breaking. the boat moved ahead slowly and he watched the airplane until he could no longer see it.

“有这么多的飞鱼，这里该有鲯鳅，”他说，带着钓索倒身向后靠，看能不能把那鱼拉过来一点儿。但是不行，钓索照样紧绷着，上面抖动着水珠，都快迸断了。船缓缓地前进，他紧盯着飞机，直到看不见为止。

it must be very strange in an airplane, he thought. i wonder what the sea looks like from that height? they should be able to see the fish well if they do not fly too high. i would like to fly very slowly at two hundred fathoms high and see the fish from above. in the turtle boats i was in the cross-trees of the mast-head and even at that height i saw much. the dolphin look greener from there and you can see their stripes and their purple spots and you can see all of the school as they swim. why is it that all the fast-moving fish of the dark current have purple backs and usually purple stripes or spots? the dolphin looks green of course because he is really golden. but when he comes to feed, truly hungry, purple strips show on his sides as on a marlin. can it be anger, or the greater speed he makes that brings them out?

坐在飞机里一定感觉很怪，他想。不知道从那么高的地方朝下望，海是什么样子？要不是飞得太高，他们一定能清楚地看到这条鱼。我希望在两百英寻的高度飞得极慢极慢，从空中看鱼。在捕海龟的船上，我待在桅顶横桁上，即使从那样的高度也能看到不少东西。从那里朝下望，鲯鳅的颜色更绿，你能看清它们身上的条纹和紫色斑点，你可以看见它们整整一群在游水。怎么搞的，凡是在深暗的水流中游得很快的鱼都有紫色的背脊，一般还有紫色条纹或斑点？鲯鳅在水里当然看上去是绿色的，因为它们实在是金黄色的。但是当它们饿得慌，想吃东西的时候，身子两侧就会出现紫色条纹，象大马林鱼那样。是因为愤怒，还是游得太快，才使这些条纹显露出来的呢？

just before it was dark, as they passed a great island of sargasso weed that heaved and swung in the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket, his small line was taken by taken by a dolphin. he saw it first when it jumped in the air, true gold in the last of the sun and bending and flapping wildly in the air. it jumped again and again in the acrobatics of its fear and he worked his way back to the stern and crouching and holding the big line with his right hand and arm, he pulled the dolphin in with his left hand, stepping on the gained line each time with his bare left foot.

就在断黑之前，老人和船经过好大一起马尾藻，它在风浪很小的海面上动荡着，仿佛海洋正同什么东西在一条黄色的毯子下做爱，这时候，他那根细钓丝给一条鲯鳅咬住了。他第一次看见它是在它跃出水面的当儿，在最后一线阳光中确实象金子一般，在空中弯起身子，疯狂地扑打着。它惊慌得一次次跃出水面，象在做杂技表演，他呢，慢慢地挪动身子，回到船梢蹲下，用右手和右胳臂攥住那根粗钓索，用左手把鲯鳅往回拉，每收回一段钓丝，就用光着的左脚踩住。

when the fish was at the stern, plunging and cutting from side to side in desperation, the old man leaned over the stern and lifted the burnished gold fish with its purple spots over the stern. its jaws were working convulsively in quick bites against the hook and it pounded the bottom of the skiff with its long flat body, its tail and its head until he clubbed it across the shining golden head until it shivered and was still.

等到这条带紫色斑点的金光灿烂的鱼给拉到了船梢边，绝望地左右乱窜乱跳时，老人探出身去，把它拎到船梢上。它的嘴被钓钩挂住了，抽搐地动着，急促地连连咬着钓钩，还用它那长而扁的身体、尾巴和脑袋拍打着船底，直到他用木棍打了一下它的金光闪亮的脑袋，它才抖了一下，不动了。

the old man unhooked the fish, re-baited the line with another sardine and tossed it over. then he worked his way slowly back to the bow. he washed his left hand and wiped it on his trousers. then he shifted the heavy line from his right hand to his left and washed his right hand in the sea while he watched the sun go into the ocean and the slant of the big cord.

老人把钓钩从鱼嘴里拔出来，重新安上一条沙丁鱼作饵，把它甩进海里。然后他挪动身子慢慢地回到船头。他洗了左手，在裤腿上擦干。然后他把那根粗钓索从右手挪到左手，在海里洗着右手，同时望着太阳沉到海里，还望着那根斜入水中的粗钓索。

"he hasn‘t changed at all," he said. but watching the movement of the water against his hand he noted that it was perceptibly slower.

“那鱼还是老样子，一点儿也没变，”他说。但是他注视着海水如何拍打在他手上，发觉船走得显然慢些了。

"i‘ll lash the two oars together across the stern and that will slow him in the night," he said. "he‘s good for the night and so am i."

“我来把这两支桨交叉绑在船梢，这样在夜里能使它慢下来，”他说。“它能熬夜，我也能。”

it would be better to gut the dolphin a little later to save the blood in the meat, he thought. i can do that a little later and lash the oars to make a drag at the same time. i had better keep the fish quiet now and not disturb him too much at sunset. the setting of the sun is a difficult time for all fish.

最好稍等一会儿再把这鲯鳅开肠剖肚，这样可以让鲜血留在鱼肉里，他想。我可以迟一会儿再干，眼下且把桨扎起来，在水里拖着，增加阻力。眼下还是让鱼安静些的好，在日落时分别去过分惊动它。对所有的鱼来说，太阳落下去的时分都是难熬的。

he let his hand dry in the air then grasped the line with it and eased himself as much as he could and allowed himself to be pulled forward against the wood so that the boat took the strain as much, or more, than he did.

他把手举起来晾干了，然后攥住钓索，尽量放松身子，听任自己被拖向前去，身子贴在木船舷上，这样船承担的拉力和他自己承担的一样大，或者更大些。

i‘m learning how to do it, he thought. this part of it anyway. then too, remember he hasn‘t eaten since he took the bait and he is huge and needs much food. i have eaten the whole bonito. tomorrow i will eat the dolphin. he called it dorado. perhaps i should eat some if it when i clean it. it will be harder to eat than the bonito. but, then, nothing is easy.

我渐渐学会该怎么做了，他想。反正至少在这一方面是如此。再说，别忘了它咬饵以来还没吃过东西，而且它身子庞大，需要很多的食物。我已经把这整条金枪鱼吃了。明天我将吃那条鲯鳅。他管它叫“黄金鱼”。也许我该在把它开膛时吃上一点儿。它比那条金枪鱼要难吃些。不过话得说回来，没有一桩事是容易的。

"how do you feel, fish? he asked aloud. "i feel good and my left hand is better and i have food for a night and a day. pull the boat, fish."

“你觉得怎么样，鱼？”他开口问。“我觉得很好过，我左手已经好转了，我有够一夜和一个白天吃的食物。拖着这船吧，鱼。”

he did not truly feel good because the pain from the cord across his back had almost passed pain and gone into a dullness that he mistrusted. but i have had worse things than that, he thought. my hand is only cut a little and the cramp is gone from the other. my legs are all right. also now i have gained on him in the question of sustenance.

他并不真的觉得好过，因为钓索勒在背上疼痛得几乎超出了能忍痛的极限，进入了一种使他不放心的麻木状态。不过，比这更糟的事儿我也曾碰到过，他想。我一只手仅仅割破了一点儿，另一只手的抽筋已经好了。我的两腿都很管用。再说，眼下在食物方面我也比它占优势。

it was dark now as it becomes dark quickly after the sun sets in september. he lay against the worn wood of the bow and rested all that he could. the first stars were out. he did not know the name of rigel but he saw it and knew soon they would all be out and he would have all his distant friends.

这时天黑了，因为在九月里，太阳一落，天马上就黑下来。他背靠者船头上给磨损的木板，尽量休息个够。第一批星星露面了，他不知道猎户座左脚那颗星的名字，但是看到了它，就知道其他星星不久都要露面，他又有这些遥远的朋友来做伴了。

"the fish is my friend too," he said aloud. "i have never seen or heard of such a fish. but i must kill him. i am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars."imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. the moon runs away. but imagine if a man each day should have to try to kill the sun? we were born lucky, he thought.

“这条鱼也是我的朋友，”他说出声来。“我从没看见过或听说过这样的鱼。不过我必须把它弄死。我很高兴，我们不必去弄死那些星星。”想想看，如果人必须每天去弄死月亮，那该多糟，他想。月亮会逃走的。不过想想看，如果人必须每天去弄死太阳，那又怎么样？我们总算生来是幸运的，他想。

then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. how many people will he feed, he thought. but are they worthy to eat him? no, of course not.

于是他替这条没东西吃的大鱼感到伤心，但是要杀死它的决心绝对没有因为替它伤心而减弱。它能供多少人吃啊他想。可是他们配吃它吗？不配，当然不配。

there is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behaviour and his great dignity.

凭它的举止风度和它的高度的尊严来看，谁也不配吃它。

i do not understand these things, he thought. but it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. it is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.

我不懂这些事儿，他想。可是我们不必去弄死太阳或月亮或星星，这是好事。在海上过日子，弄死我们自己真正的兄弟，已经够我们受的了。

now, he thought, i must think about the drag. it has its perils and its merits.

现在，他想，我该考虑考虑那在水里拖着的障碍物了。这玩意儿有它的危险，也有它的好处。

i may lose so much line that i will lose him, if he makes his effort and the drag made by the oars is in place and the boat loses all her lightness. her lightness prolongs both our suffering but it is my safety since he has great speed that he has never yet employed. no matter what passes i must gut the dolphin so he does not spoil and eat some of him to be strong.

如果鱼使劲地拉，造成阻力的那两把桨在原处不动，船不象从前那样轻的话，我可能会被鱼拖走好长的钓索，结果会让它跑了。保持船身轻，会延长我们双方的痛苦，但这是我的安全所在，因为这鱼能游得很快，这本领至今尚未使出过。不管出什么事，我必须把这鲯鳅开膛剖肚，免得坏掉，并且吃一点长长力气。

now i will rest an hour more and feel that he is solid and steady before i move back to the stern to do the work and make the decision. in the meantime i can see how he acts and if he shows any changes. the oars are a good trick; but it has reached the time to play for safety. he is much fish still and i saw that the hook was in the corner of his mouth and he has kept his mouth tight shut.

现在我要再歇一个钟点，等我感到鱼稳定了下来，才回到船梢去干这事，并决定对策。在这段时间里，我可以看它怎样行动，是否有什么变化。把那两把桨放在那儿是个好计策；不过已经到了该安全行事的时候。这鱼依旧很厉害。我看见过钓钩挂在它的嘴角，它把嘴闭得紧紧的。

the punishment of the hook is nothing. the punishment of hunger, and that he is against something that he does not comprehend, is everything. rest now, old man, and let him work until your next duty comes.

钓钩的折磨算不上什么。饥饿的折磨，加上还得对付它不了解的对手，才是天大的麻烦。歇歇吧，老家伙，让它去干它的事，等轮到该你干的时候再说。

he rested for what he believed to be two hours. the moon did not rise now until late and he had no way of judging the time. nor was he really resting except comparatively. he was still bearing the pull of the fish across his shoulders but he placed his left hand on the gunwale of the bow and confided more and more of the resistance to the fish to the skiff itself.

他认为自己已经歇了两个钟点。月亮要等到很晚才爬上来，他没法判断时间。实在他并没有好好休息，只能说是多少歇了一会儿。他肩上依旧承受着鱼的拉力，不过他把左手按在船头的舷上，把对抗鱼的拉力的任务越来越让小船本身来承担了。

how simple it would be if i could make the line fast, he thought. but with one small lurch he could break it. i must cushion the pull of the line with my body and at all times be ready to give line with both hands.

要是能把钓索栓住，那事情会变得多简单啊，他想。可是只消鱼稍微歪一歪，就能把钓索绷断。我必须用自己的身子来缓冲这钓索的拉力，随时准备用双手放出钓索。

"but you have not slept yet, old man," he said aloud. "it is half a day and a night and now another day and you have not slept. you must devise a way so that you sleep a little if he is quiet and steady. if you do not sleep you might become unclear in the head."

“不过你还没睡觉呢，老头儿，”他说出声来。“已经熬过了半个白天和一夜，现在又是一个白天，可你一直没睡觉。你必须想个办法，趁鱼安静稳定的时候睡上一会儿。如果你不睡觉，你会搞得脑筋糊涂起来。”

i‘m clear enough in the head, he thought. too clear. i am as clear as the stars that are my brothers. still i must sleep. they sleep and the moon and the sun sleep and even the ocean sleeps sometimes on certain days when there is no current and a flat calm.

我脑筋够清醒的，他想。太清醒啦。我跟星星一样清醒，它们是我的兄弟。不过我还是必须睡觉。它们睡觉，月亮和太阳都睡觉，连海洋有时候也睡觉，那是在某些没有激浪，平静无波的日子里。

but remember to sleep, he thought. make yourself do it and devise some simple and sure way about the lines. now go back and prepare the dolphin. it is too dangerous to rig the oars as a drag if you must sleep.

可别忘了睡觉，他想。强迫你自己睡觉，想出些简单而稳妥的办法来安排那根钓索。现在回到船梢去处理那条鲯鳅吧。如果你一定要睡觉的话，把桨绑起来拖在水里可就太危险啦。

i could go without sleeping, he told himself. but it would be too dangerous.

我不睡觉也能行，他对自己说。不过这太危险啦。

he started to work his way back to the stern on his hands and knees, being careful not the jerk against the fish. he may be half asleep himself, he thought. but i do not want him to rest. he must pull until he dies.

他用双手双膝爬回船梢，小心避免猛地惊动那条鱼。它也许正半睡半醒的，他想。可是我不想让它休息。必须要它拖曳着一直到死去。

back in the stern he turned so that his left hand held the strain of the line across his shoulders and drew his knife from its sheath with his right hand. the stars were bright now and he saw the dolphin clearly and he pushed the blade of his knife into his head and drew him out from under the stern. he put one of his feet on the fish and slit him quickly from the vent up to the tip of his lower jaw. then he put his knife down and gutted him with his right hand, scooping him clean and pulling the gills clear. he felt the maw heavy and slippery in his hands and he slit it open. there were two flying fish inside.

回到了船梢，他转身让左手攥住紧勒在肩上的钓索，用右手从刀鞘中拔出刀子。星星这时很明亮，他清楚地看见那条鲯鳅，就把刀刃扎进它的头部，把它从船梢下拉出来。他用一只脚踩在鱼身上，从肛门朝上，倏的一刀直剖到它下颌的尖端。然后他放下刀子，用右手掏出内脏，掏干净了，把鳃也干脆拉下了。他觉得鱼胃在手里重甸甸、滑溜溜的，就把它剖开来。里面有两条小飞鱼。

they were fresh and hard and he laid them side by side and dropped the guts and the gills over the stern. they sank leaving a trail of phosphorescence in the water. the dolphin was cold and a leprous gray-white now in the starlight and the old man skinned one side of him while he held his right foot on the fish‘s head. then he turned him over and skinned the other side and cut each side off from the head down to the tail.

它们还很新鲜、坚实，他把它们并排放下，把内脏和鱼鳃从船梢扔进水中。它们沉下去时，在水中拖着一道磷光。鲯鳅是冰冷的，这时在星光里显得象麻风病患者般灰白，老人用右脚踩住鱼头，剥下鱼身上一边的皮。他然后把鱼翻转过来，剥掉另一边的皮，把鱼身两边的肉从头到尾割下来。

he slid the carcass overboard and looked to see if there was any swirl in the water. but there was only the light of its slow descent. he turned then and placed the two flying fish inside the two fillets of fish and putting his knife back in its sheath, he worked his way slowly back to the bow. his back was bent with the weight of the line across it and he carried the fish in his right hand.

他把鱼骨悄悄地丢到舷外，注意看它是不是在水里打转。但是只看到它慢慢沉下时的磷光。跟着他转过身来，把两条飞鱼夹在那两爿鱼肉中间，把刀子插进刀鞘，慢慢儿挪动身子，回到船头。他被钓索上的分量拉得弯了腰，右手拿着鱼肉。

back in the bow he laid the two fillets of fish out on the wood with the flying fish beside them. after that he settled the line across his shoulders in a new place and held it again with his left hand resting on the gunwale. then he leaned over the side and washed the flying fish in the water, noting the speed of the water against his hand. his hand was phosphorescent from skinning the fish and he watched the flow of the water against it. the flow was less strong and as he rubbed the side of his hand against the planking of the skiff, particles of phosphorus floated off and drifted slowly astern.

回到船头后，他把两爿鱼肉摊在船板上，旁边搁着飞鱼。然后他把勒在肩上的钓索换一个地方，又用左手攥住了钓索，手搁在船舷上。接着他靠在船舷上，把飞鱼在水里洗洗，留意着水冲击在他手上的速度。他的手因为剥了鱼皮而发出磷光，他仔细察看水流怎样冲击他的手。水流并不那么有力了，当他把手的侧面在小船船板上擦着的时候，星星点点的磷质漂浮开去，慢慢朝船梢漂去。

"he is tiring or he is resting," the old man said. "now let me get through the eating of this dolphin and get some rest and a little sleep."

“它越来越累了，要不就是在休息，”老人说。“现在我来把这鲯鳅全吃了，休息一下，睡一会儿吧。”

under the stars and with the night colder all the time he ate half of one of the dolphin fillets and one of the flying fish, gutted and with its head cut off.

在星光下，在越来越冷的夜色里，他把一爿鱼肉吃了一半，还吃了一条已经挖去了内脏、切掉了脑袋的飞鱼。

"what an excellent fish dolphin is to eat cooked," he said. "and what a miserable fish raw. i will never go in a boat again without salt or limes."

“鲯鳅煮熟了吃味道多鲜美啊，”他说。“生吃可难吃死了。以后不带盐或酸橙，我绝对不再乘船了。”

if i had brains i would have splashed water on the bow all day and drying, it would have made salt, he thought. but then i did not hook the dolphin until almost sunset. still it was a lack of preparation. but i have chewed it all well and i am not nauseated.

如果我有头脑，我会整天把海水瓶在船头上，等它干了就会有盐了，他想。不过话得说回来，我是直到太阳快落山时才钓到这条鲯鳅的。但毕竟是准备工作做得不足。然而我把它全细细咀嚼后吃下去了，没有恶心作呕。

the sky was clouding over to the east and one after another the stars he knew were gone. it looked now as though he were moving into a great canyon of clouds and the wind had dropped.

东方天空中云越来越多，他认识的星星一颗颗地不见了。眼下仿佛他正驶进一个云彩的大峡谷，风已经停了。

"there will be bad weather in three or four days," he said. "but not tonight and not tomorrow. rig now to get some sleep, old man, while the fish is calm and steady."

“三四天内会有坏天气，“他说。”但是今晚和明天还不要紧。现在来安排一下，老家伙，睡它一会儿，趁这鱼正安静而稳定的时候。”

he held the line tight in his right hand and then pushed his thigh against his right hand as he leaned all his weight against the wood of the bow. then he passed the line a little lower on his shoulders and braced his left hand on it.

他把钓索紧握在右手里，然后拿大腿抵住了右手，把全身的重量压在船头的木板上。跟着他把勒在肩上的钓索移下一点儿，用左手撑住了钓索。

my right hand can hold it as long as it is braced, he thought. if it relaxes in sleep my left hand will wake me as the line goes out. it is hard on the right hand. but he is used to punishment. even if i sleep twenty minutes or a half an hour it is good. he lay forward cramping himself against the line with all of his body, putting all his weight onto his right hand, and he was asleep.

只要钓索给撑紧着，我的右手就能握住它，他想。如果我睡着时它松了，朝外溜去，我的左手会把我弄醒的。这对右手是很吃重的。但是它是吃惯了苦的。哪怕我能睡上二十分钟或者半个钟点，也是好的。他朝前把整个身子夹住钓索，把全身的重量放在右手上，于是他入睡了。

he did not dream of the lions but instead of a vast school of porpoises that stretched for eight or ten miles and it was in the time of their mating and they would leap high into the air and return into the same hole they had made in the water when they leaped.

他没有梦见狮子，却梦见了一大群海豚，伸展八到十英里长，这时正是它们交配的季节，它们会高高地跳到半空中，然后掉回到它们跳跃时在水里形成的水涡里。

then he dreamed that he was in the village on his bed and there was a norther and he was very cold and his right arm was asleep because his head had rested on it instead of a pillow.

接着他梦见他在村子里，躺在自己的床上，正在刮北风，他感到很冷，他的右臂麻木了，因为他的头枕在它上面，而不是枕头上。

after that he began to dream of the long yellow beach and he saw the first of the lions come down onto it in the early dark and then the other lions came and he rested his chin on the wood of the bows where the ship lay anchored with the evening off-shore breeze and he waited to see if there would be more lions and he was happy.

在这以后，他梦见那道长长的黄色海滩，看见第一头狮子在傍晚时分来到海滩上，接着其他狮子也来了，于是他把下巴搁在船头的木板上，船抛下了锚停泊在那里，晚风吹向海面，他等着看有没有更多的狮子来，感到很快乐。

the moon had been up for a long time but he slept on and the fish pulled on steadily and the boat moved into the tunnel of clouds.

月亮升起有好久了，可他只顾睡着，鱼平稳地向前拖着，船驶进云彩的峡谷里。