the shark was not an accident. he had come up from deep down in the water as the dark cloud of blood had settled and dispersed in the mile deep sea. he had come up so fast and absolutely without caution that he broke the surface of the blue water and was in the sun. then he fell back into the sea and picked up the scent and started swimming on the course the skiff and the fish had taken.
这条鲨鱼的出现不是偶然的。当那一大片暗红的血朝一英里深的海里下沉并扩散的时候，它从水底深处上来了。它窜上来得那么快，全然不顾一切，竟然冲破了蓝色的水面，来到了阳光里。跟着它又掉回海里，嗅到了血腥气的踪迹，就顺着小船和那鱼所走的路线游去。
sometimes he lost the scent. but he would pick it up again, or have just a trace of it, and he swam fast and hard on the course. he was a very big mako shark built to swim as fast as the fastest fish in the sea and everything about him was beautiful except his jaws. his back was as blue as a sword fish‘s and his belly was silver and his hide was smooth and handsome. he was built as a sword fish except for his huge jaws which were tight shut now as he swam fast, just under the surface with his high dorsal fin knifing through the water without wavering. inside the closed double lip of his jaws all of his eight rows of teeth were slanted inwards. they were not the ordinary pyramid-shaped teeth of most sharks. they were shaped like a man‘s fingers when they are crisped like claws. they were nearly as long as t he fingers of the old man and they had razor-sharp cutting edges on both sides. this was a fish built to feed on all the fishes in the sea, that were so fast and strong and well armed that they had no other enemy. now he speeded up as he smelled the fresher scent and his blue dorsal fin cut the water.
有时候它迷失了那气味。但是它总会重新嗅到，或者就嗅到那么一点儿，它就飞快地使劲跟上。它是条很大的灰鲭鲨，生就一副好体格，能游得跟海里最快的鱼一般快，周身的一切都很美，除了它的上下颚。它的背部和剑鱼的一般蓝，肚子是银色的，鱼皮光滑而漂亮。它长得和剑鱼一般，除了它那张正紧闭着的大嘴，它眼下就在水面下迅速地游着，高耸的脊鳍象刀子般划破水面，一点也不抖动。在这紧闭着的双唇里面，八排牙齿全都朝里倾斜着。它们和大多数鲨鱼的不同，不是一般的金字塔形的。它们象爪子般蜷曲起来的人的手指。它们几乎跟这老人的手指一般长，两边都有刀片般锋利的快口。这种鱼生就拿海里所有的鱼当食料，它们游得那么快，那么壮健，武器齐备，以致所向无敌。它闻到了这新鲜的血腥气，此刻正加快了速度，蓝色的脊鳍划破了水面。
when the old man saw him coming he knew that this was a shark that had no fear at all and would do exactly what he wished. he prepared the harpoon and made the rope fast while he watched the shark come on. the rope was short as it lacked what he had cut away to lash the fish.
老人看见它在游来，看出这是条毫无畏惧而坚决为所欲为的鲨鱼。他准备好了鱼叉，系紧了绳子，一面注视着鲨鱼向前游来。绳子短了，缺了他割下用来绑鱼的那一截。
the old man‘s head was clear and good now and he was full of resolution but he had little hope. it was too good to last, he thought. he took one look at the great fish as he watched the shark close in. it might as well have been a dream, he thought. i can not keep him from hitting me but maybe i can get him. dentuso, he thought. bad luck to your mother.
老人此刻头脑清醒，正常，充满了决心，但并不抱着多少希望。光景太好了，不可能持久的，他想。他注视着鲨鱼在逼近，抽空朝那条大鱼望上一眼。这简直等于是一场梦，他想。我没法阻止它来袭击我，但是也许我能弄死它。登多索鲨，他想。你它妈交上坏运啦。
the shark closed fast astern and when he hit the fish the old man saw his mouth open and his strange eyes and the clicking chop of the teeth as he drove forward in the meat just above the tail. the shark‘s head was out of water and his back was coming out and the old man could hear the noise of skin and flesh ripping on the big fish when he rammed the harpoon down onto the shark‘s head at a spot where the line between his eyes intersected with the line that ran straight back from his nose. there were no such lines. there was only the heavy sharp blue head and the big eyes and the clicking, thrusting all-swallowing jaws. but that was the location of the brain and the old man hit it. he hit it with his blood mushed hands driving a good harpoon with all his strength. he hit it without hope but with resolution and complete malignancy.
鲨鱼飞速地逼近船梢，它袭击那鱼的时候，老人看见它张开了嘴，看见它那双奇异的眼睛，它咬住鱼尾巴上面一点儿的地方，牙齿咬得嘎吱嘎吱地响。鲨鱼的头露出在水面上，背部正在出水，老人听见那条大鱼的皮肉被撕裂的声音，这时候，他用鱼叉朝下猛地扎进鲨鱼的脑袋，正扎在它两眼之间的那条线和从鼻子笔直通到脑后的那条线的交叉点上。这两条线实在是并不存在的。只有那沉重、尖锐的蓝色脑袋，两只大眼睛和那嘎吱作响、吞噬一切的突出的两颚。可是那儿正是脑子的所在，老人直朝它扎去。他使出全身的力气，用糊着鲜血的双手，把一支好鱼叉向它扎去。他扎它，并不抱着希望，但是带着决心和十足的恶意。
the shark swung over and the old man saw his eye was not alive and then he swung over once again, wrapping himself in two loops of the rope. the old man knew that he was dead but the shark would not accept it. then, on his back, with his tail lashing and his jaws clicking, the shark plowed over the water as a speedboat does. the water was white where his tail beat it and three-quarters of his body was clear above the water when the rope came taut, shivered, and then snapped. the shark lay quietly for a little while on the surface and the old man watched him. then he went down very slowly.
鲨鱼翻了个身，老人看出它眼睛里已经没有生气了，跟着它又翻了个身，自行缠上了两道绳子。老人知道这鲨鱼快死了，但它还是不肯认输。它这时肚皮朝上，尾巴扑打着，两颚嘎吱作响，象一条快艇般划奇水面。它的尾巴把水拍打得泛出白色，四分之三的身体露出在水面上，这时绳子给绷紧了，抖了一下，啪地断了。鲨鱼在水面上静静地躺了片刻，老人紧盯着它。然后它慢慢地沉下去了。
"he took about forty pounds," the old man said aloud. he took my harpoon too and all the rope, he thought, and now my fish bleeds again and there will be others.
“它吃掉了约莫四十磅肉，”老人说出声来。它把我的鱼叉也带走了，还有那么许多绳子，他想，而且现在我这条鱼又在淌血，其他鲨鱼也会来的。
he did not like to look at the fish anymore since he had been mutilated. when the fish had been hit it was as though he himself were hit.
他不忍心再朝这死鱼看上一眼，因为它已经被咬得残缺不全了。鱼挨到袭击的时候，他感到就象自己挨到袭击一样。
but i killed the shark that hit my fish, he thought. and he was the biggest dentuso that i have ever seen. and god knows that i have seen big ones.
可是我杀死了这条袭击我的鱼的鲨鱼，他想。而它是我见到过的最大的登多索鲨。天知道，我见过一些大的。
it was too good to last, he thought. i wish it had been a dream now and that i had never hooked the fish and was alone in bed on the newspapers.
光景太好了，不可能持久的，他想。但愿这是一场梦，我根本没有钓到这条鱼，正独自躺在床上铺的旧报纸上。
"but man is not made for defeat," he said. "a man can be destroyed but not defeated." i am sorry that i killed the fish though, he thought. now the bad time is coming and i do not even have the harpoon. the dentuso is cruel and able and strong an d intelligent. but i was more intelligent than he was. perhaps not, he thought. perhaps i was only better armed.
“不过人不是为失败而生的，”他说。“一个人可以被毁灭，但不能给打败。“不过我很痛心，把这鱼给杀了，他想。现在倒霉的时刻要来了，可我连鱼叉也没有。这条登多索鲨是残忍、能干、强壮而聪明的。但是我比它更聪明。也许并不，他想。也许我仅仅是武器比它强。
"don‘t think, old man," he said aloud. "sail on this course and take it when it comes."
“别想啦，老家伙，”他说出声来。“顺着这航线行驶，事到临头再对付吧。”
but i must think, he thought. because it is all i have left. that and baseball. i wonder how the great dimaggio would have liked the way i hit him in the brain? it was no great thing, he thought. any man could do it. but do you think my hands were as grea t a handicap as the bone spurs? i cannot know. i never had anything wrong with my heel except the time the sting ray stung it when i stepped on him when swimming and paralyzed the lower leg and made the unbearable pain.
但是我一定要想，他想。因为我只剩下这个了。这个，还有棒球。不知道那了不起的迪马吉奥可会喜欢我那样击中它的脑子？这不是什么了不起的事儿，他想。任何人都做得到。但是，你可以为，我这双受伤的手跟骨刺一样是个很大的不利条件？我没法知道。我的脚后跟从没出过毛病，除了有一次在游水时踩着了一条海鳐鱼，被它扎了一下，小腿麻痹了，痛得真受不了。
"think about something cheerful, old man," he said. "every minute now you are closer to home. you sail lighter for the loss of forty pounds."
“想点开心的事儿吧，老家伙，”他说。“每过一分钟，你就离家近一步。丢了四十磅鱼肉，你航行起来更轻快了。”
he knew quite well the pattern of what could happen when he reached the inner part of the current. but there was nothing to be done now.
他很清楚，等他驶进了海流的中部，会发生什么事。可是眼下一点办法也没有。
"yes there is," he said aloud. "i can lash my knife to the butt of one of the oars."
“不，有办法，”他说出声来。“我可以把刀子绑在一支桨的把子上。”
so he did that with the tiller under his arm and the sheet of the sail under his foot.
于是他胳肢窝里挟着舵柄，一只脚踩住了帆脚索，就这样办了。
"now," he said. "i am still an old man. but i am not unarmed."
“行了，”他说。“我照旧是个老头儿。不过我不是没有武器的了。”
the breeze was fresh now and he sailed on well. he watched only the forward part of the fish and some of his hope returned.
这时风刮得强劲些了，他顺利地航行着。他只顾盯着鱼的上半身，恢复了一点儿希望。
it is silly to hope, he thought. besides i believe it is a sin. do not think about sin, he thought. there are enough problems now without sin. also i have no understanding of it.
不抱希望才蠢哪，他想。再说，我认为这是一桩罪过。别想罪过了，他想。麻烦已经够多了，还想什么罪过。何况我根本不懂这个。
i have no understanding of it and i am not sure that i believe in it. perhaps it was a sin to kill the fish. i suppose it was even though i did it to keep me alive and feed many people. but then everything is a sin. do not think about sin. it is much too late for that and there are people who are paid to do it. let them think about it. you were born to be a fisherman as the fish was born to be a fish. san pedro was a fisherman as was the father of the great dimaggio.
我根本不懂这个，也说不准我是不是相信。也许杀死这条鱼是一桩罪过。我看该是的，尽管我是为了养活自己并且给许多人吃用才这样干的。不过话得说回来，什么事都是罪过啊。别想罪过了吧。现在想它也实在太迟了，而且有些人是拿了钱来干这个的。让他们去考虑吧。你天生是个渔夫，正如那鱼天生就是一条鱼一样。圣彼德罗是个渔夫，跟那了不起的迪马吉奥的父亲一样。
but he liked to think about all things that he was involved in and since there was nothing to read and he did not have a radio, he thought much and he kept on thinking about sin. you did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food, he though t. you killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. you loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. if you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. or is it more?
但是他喜欢去想一切他给卷在里头的事，而且因为没有书报可看，又没有收音机，他就想得很多，只顾想着罪过。你不光是为了养活自己、把鱼卖了买食品才杀死它的，他想。你杀死它是为了自尊心，因为你是个渔夫。它活着的时候你爱它，它死了你还是爱它。如果你爱它，杀死它就不是罪过。也许是更大的罪过吧？
"you think too much, old man," he said aloud.
“你想得太多了，老家伙，”他说出声来。
but you enjoyed killing the dentuso, he thought. he lives on the live fish as you do. he is not a scavenger nor just a moving appetite as some sharks are. he is beautiful and noble and knows no fear of anything.
但是你很乐意杀死那条登多索鲨，他想。它跟你一样，靠吃活鱼维持生命。它不是食腐动物，也不象有些鲨鱼那样，只知道游来游去满足食欲。它是美丽而崇高的，见什么都不怕。
"i killed him in self-defense," the old man said aloud. "and i killed him well.
“我杀死它是为了自卫，”老人说出声来。“杀得也很利索。”
"besides, he thought, everything kills everything else in some way. fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. the boy keeps me alive, he thought. i must not deceive myself too much.
再说，他想，每样东西都杀死别的东西，不过方式不同罢了。捕鱼养活了我，同样也快把我害死了。那孩子使我活得下去，他想。我不能过分地欺骗自己。
he leaned over the side and pulled loose a piece of the meat of the fish where the shark had cut him. he chewed it and noted its quality and its good taste. it was firm and juicy, like meat, but it was not red. there was no stringiness in it and he knew t hat it would bring the highest price in the market. but there was no way to keep its scent out of the water and the old man knew that a very bad time was coming.
他把身子探出船舷，从鱼身上被鲨鱼咬过的地方撕下一块肉。他咀嚼着，觉得肉质很好，味道鲜美。又坚实又多汁，象牲口的肉，不过不是红色的。一点筋也没有，他知道在市场上能卖最高的价钱。可是没有办法让它的气味不散布到水里去，老人知道糟糕透顶的时刻就快来到了。
the breeze was steady. it had backed a little further into the north-east and he knew that meant that it would not fall off. the old man looked ahead of him but he could see no sails nor could he see the hull nor the smoke of any ship. there were only the flying fish that went up from his bow sailing away to either side and the yellow patches of gulf weed. he could not even see a bird.
风持续地吹着。它稍微转向东北方，他明白这表明它不会停息。老人朝前方望去，不见一丝帆影，也看不见任何一只船的船身或冒出来的烟。只有从他船头下跃起的飞鱼，向两边逃去，还有一摊摊黄色的马尾藻。他连一只鸟也看不见。
he had sailed for two hours, resting in the stern and sometimes chewing a bit of the meat from the marlin, trying to rest and to be strong, when he saw the first of the two sharks.
他已经航行了两个钟点，在船梢歇着，有时候从大马林鱼身上撕下一点肉来咀嚼着，努力休息，保持精力，这时他看到了两条鲨鱼中首先露面的那一条。
"ay," he said aloud. there is no translation for this word and perhaps it is just a noise such as a man might make, involuntarily, feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood.
“ay，”他说出声来。这个词儿是没法翻译的，也许不过是一声叫喊，就象一个人觉得钉子穿过他的双手，钉进木头时不由自主地发出的声音。
"galanos," he said aloud. he had seen the second fin now coming up behind the fish and had identified them as shovel-nosed sharks by the brown, triangular fin and the sweeping movements of the tail. they had the scent and were excited and in the stupidity of their great hunger they were losing and finding the scent in their excitement. but they were closing all the time.
“加拉诺鲨，”他说出声来。他看见另一个鳍在第一个的背后冒出水来，根据这褐色的三角形鳍和甩来甩去的尾巴，认出它们正是铲鼻鲨。它们嗅到了血腥味，很兴奋，因为饿昏了头，它们激动得一会儿迷失了臭迹，一会儿又嗅到了。可是它们始终在逼近。
the old man made the sheet fast and jammed the tiller. then he took up the oar with the knife lashed to it. he lifted it as lightly as he could because his hands rebelled at the pain. then he opened and closed them on it lightly to loosen them. he closed them firmly so they would take the pain now and would not flinch and watched the sharks come. he could see their wide, flattened, shovel-pointed heads now and their whitetipped wide pectoral fins. they were hateful sharks, bad smelling, scavengers as well as killers, and when they were hungry they would bite an oar or the rudder of a boat. it was these sharks that would cut the turtles‘ legs and flippers off when the turtles were asleep on the surface, and they would hit a man in the water, if they were h ungry, even if the man had no smell of fish blood nor of fish slime on him.
老人系紧帆脚索，卡住了舵柄。然后他拿起上面绑着刀子的桨。他尽量轻地把它举起来，因为他那双手痛得不听使唤了。然后他把手张开，再轻轻捏住了桨，让双手松弛下来。他紧紧地把手合拢，让它们忍受着痛楚而不致缩回去，一面注视着鲨鱼在过来。他这时看得见它们那又宽又扁的铲子形的头，和尖端呈白色的宽阔的胸鳍。它们是可恶的鲨鱼，气味难闻，既杀害其他的鱼，也吃腐烂的死鱼，饥饿的时候，它们会咬船上的一把桨或者舵。就是这些鲨鱼，会趁海龟在水面上睡觉的时候咬掉它们的脚和鳍状肢，如果碰到饥饿的时候，也会在水里袭击人，即使这人身上并没有鱼血或黏液的腥味。
"ay," the old man said. "galanos. come on galanos."
“ay，”老人说。“加拉诺鲨。来吧，加拉诺鲨。”
they came. but they did not come as the mako had come. one turned and went out of sight under the skiff and the old man could feel the skiff shake as he jerked and pulled on the fish. the other watched the old man with his slitted yellow eyes and then cam e in fast with his half circle of jaws wide to hit the fish where he had already been bitten. the line showed clearly on the top of his brown head and back where the brain joined the spinal cord and the old man drove the knife on the oar into the juncture , withdrew it, and drove it in again into the shark‘s yellow cat-like eyes. the shark let go of the fish and slid down, swallowing what he had taken as he died.
它们来啦。但是它们来的方式和那条灰鲭鲨的不同。一条鲨鱼转了个身，钻到小船底下不见了，它用嘴拉扯着死鱼，老人觉得小船在晃动。另一条用它一条缝似的黄眼睛注视着老人，然后飞快地游来，半圆形的上下颚大大地张开着，朝鱼身上被咬过的地方咬去。它褐色的头顶以及脑子跟脊髓相连处的背脊上有道清清楚楚的纹路，老人把绑在桨上的刀子朝那交叉点扎进去，拔出来，再扎进这鲨鱼的黄色猫眼。鲨鱼放开了咬住的鱼，身子朝下溜，临死时还把咬下的肉吞了下去。
the skiff was still shaking with the destruction the other shark was doing to the fish and the old man let go the sheet so that the skiff would swing broadside and bring the shark out from under. when he saw the shark he leaned over the side and punched a t him. he hit only meat and the hide was set hard and he barely got the knife in. the blow hurt not only his hands but his shoulder too. but the shark came up fast with his head out and the old man hit him squarely in the center of his flat-topped head as his nose came out of water and lay against the fish. the old man withdrew the blade and punched the shark exactly in the same spot again. he still hung to the fish with his jaws hooked and the old man stabbed him in his left eye. the shark still hung the re.
另一条鲨鱼正在咬啃那条鱼，弄得小船还在摇晃，老人就放松了帆脚索，让小船横过来，使鲨鱼从船底下暴露出来。？”他一看见鲨鱼，就从船舷上探出身子，一桨朝它戳去。他只戳在肉上，但鲨鱼的皮紧绷着，刀子几乎戳不进去。这一戳不仅震痛了他那双手，也震痛了他的肩膀。但是鲨鱼迅速地浮上来，露出了脑袋，老人趁它的鼻子伸出水面挨上那条鱼的时候，对准它扁平的脑袋正中扎去。老人拔出刀刃，朝同一地方又扎了那鲨鱼一下。它依旧紧锁着上下颚，咬住了鱼不放，老人一刀戳进它的左眼。鲨鱼还是吊在那里。
"no?" the old man said and he drove the blade between the vertebrae and the brain. it was an easy shot now and he felt the cartilage sever. the old man reversed the oar and put the blade between the shark‘s jaws to open them. he twisted the blade and as t he shark slid loose he said, "go on, galano. slide down a mile deep. go see your friend, or maybe it‘s your mother."
“还不够吗？”老人说着，把刀刃戳进它的脊骨和脑子之间。这时扎起来很容易，他感到它的软骨折断了。老人把桨倒过来，把刀刃插进鲨鱼的两颚之间，想把它的嘴撬开。他把刀刃一转，鲨鱼松了嘴溜开了，他说：“走吧，加拉诺鲨，溜到一英里深的水里去吧。去找你的朋友，也许那是你的妈妈吧。”
the old man wiped the blade of his knife and laid down the oar. then he found the sheet and the sail filled and he brought the skiff onto her course.
老人擦了擦刀刃，把桨放下。然后他摸到了帆脚索，张起帆来，使小船顺着原来的航线走。
"they must have taken a quarter of him and of the best meat," he said aloud. "i wish it were a dream and that i had never hooked him. i‘m sorry about it, fish. it makes everything wrong." he stopped and he did not want to look at the fish now. drained of blood and awash he looked the colour of the silver backing of a mirror and his stripes still showed.
“它们一定把这鱼吃掉了四分之一，而且都是上好的肉，”他说出声来。“但愿这是一场梦，我压根儿没有钓到它。我为这件事感到真抱歉，鱼啊。这把一切都搞糟啦。”他顿住了，此刻不想朝鱼望了。它流尽了血，被海水冲刷着，看上去象镜子背面镀的银色，身上的条纹依旧看得出来。
"i shouldn‘t have gone out so far, fish," he said. "neither for you nor for me. i‘m sorry, fish."
“我原不该出海这么远的，鱼啊，”他说。鞍对你对我都不好。我很抱歉，鱼啊。”
now, he said to himself. look to the lashing on the knife and see if it has been cut. then get your hand in order because there still is more to come.
得了，他对自己说。去看看绑刀子的绳子，看看有没有断。然后把你的手弄好，因为还有鲨鱼要来。
"i wish i had a stone for the knife," the old man said after he had checked the lashing on the oar butt. "i should have brought a stone." you should have brought many things, he thought. but you did not bring them, old man. now is no time to think of what you do not have. think of what you can do with what there is.
“但愿有块石头可以磨磨刀，”老人检查了绑在桨把子上的刀子后说。“我原该带一块磨石来的。”你应该带来的东西多着哪，他想。但是你没有带来，老家伙啊。眼下可不是想你什么东西没有带的时候，想想你用手头现有的东西能做什么事儿吧。
"you give me much good counsel," he said aloud. "i‘m tired of it."
“你给了我多少忠告啊，“他说出声来。”我听得厌死啦。”
he held the tiller under his arm and soaked both his hands in the water as the skiff drove forward.
他把舵柄夹在胳肢窝里，双手浸在水里，小船朝前驶去。
"god knows how much that last one took," he said. "but she‘s much lighter now."
“天知道最后那条就鲨鱼咬掉了多少鱼肉，”他说。“这船现在可轻得多了。”
he did not want to think of the mutilated under-side of the fish. he knew that each of the jerking bumps of the shark had been meat torn away and that the fish now made a trai l for all sharks as wide as a highway through the sea.
他不愿去想那鱼残缺不全的肚子。他知道鲨鱼每次猛地撞上去，总要撕去一点肉，还知道鱼此刻给所有的鲨鱼留下了一道臭迹，宽得象海面上的一条公路一样。
he was a fish to keep a man all winter, he thought. don‘t think of that. just rest and try to get your hands in shape to defend what is left of him. the blood smell from my hands means nothing now with all that scent in the water. besides they do not blee d much. there is nothing cut that means anything. the bleeding may keep the left from cramping.
它是条大鱼，可以供养一个人整整一冬，他想。别想这个啦。还是休息休息，把你的手弄弄好，保护这剩下的鱼肉吧。水里的血腥气这样浓，我手上的血腥气就算不上什么了。开说，这双手上出的血也不多。给割奇的地方都算不上什么。出血也许能使我的左手不再抽筋。
what can i think of now? he thought. nothing. i must think of nothing and wait for the next ones. i wish it had really been a dream, he thought. but who knows? i might have turned out well.
我现在还有什么事可想？他想。什么也没有。我必须什么也不想，等待下一条鲨鱼来。但愿这真是一场梦，他想。不过谁说得准呢？也许结果会是好的。
the next shark that came was a single shovelnose. he came like a pig to the trough if a pig had a mouth so wide that you could put your head in it. the old man let him hit the fish and then drove the knife on the oar down into his brain. but the shark jer ked backwards as he rolled and the knife blade snapped.
接着来的鲨鱼是条单独的铲鼻鲨。看它的来势，就象一头猪奔向饲料槽，如果说猪能有这么大的嘴，你可以把脑袋伸进去的话。老人让它咬住了鱼，然后把桨上绑着的刀子扎进它的脑子。但是鲨鱼朝后猛地一扭，打了个滚，刀刃啪地一声断了。
the old man settled himself to steer. he did not even watch the big shark sinking slowly in the water, showing first life-size, then small, then tiny. that always fascinated the old man. but he did not even watch it now.
老人坐定下来掌舵。他都不去看那条大鲨鱼在水里慢慢地下沉，它起先是原来那么大，然后渐渐小了，然后只剩一丁点儿了。这种情景总叫老人看得入迷。可是这会他看也不看一眼。
"i have the gaff now," he said. "but it will do no good. i have the two oars and the 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 have beaten me, he thought. i am too old to club sharks to death. but i will try as 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 hands in the water again to soak them. it was getting late in the afternoon and he saw nothing but the sea and the sky. there was more wind in the sky than there had 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‘re tired, 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 not hit 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 saw the brown fins coming along the wide trail the fish must make in the water. they were not even quartering on the scent. they were headed straight for the skiff swimming side by side.
老人看见两片褐色的鳍正顺着那鱼必然在水里留下的很宽的臭迹游来。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 the tiller, made the sheet fast and reached under the stern for the club. it was an oar handle from a broken oar sawed off to about two and a half feet in length. he could only use it effectively with one hand because of the grip of the handle a nd he took good hold of it with his right hand, flexing his hand on it, as he watched the sharks come. they were both galanos.
他刹住了舵把，系紧帆脚索，伸手到船梢下去拿棍子。它原是个桨把，是从一支断桨上锯下的，大约两英尺半长。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 the first one get a good hold and hit him on the point of the nose or straight across 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 sharks closed together and as he saw the one nearest him open his jaws and sink them into the silver side of the fish, he raised the club high and brought it down heavy and slamming onto the top of the shark‘s broad head. he felt the rubbery solid ity as the club came down. but he felt the rigidity of bone too and he struck the shark once more hard across the point of the nose as he slid down from the fish.
两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。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 shark had been in and out and now came in again with his jaws wide. the old man could see pieces of the meat of the fish spilling white from the corner of his jaws as he bumped the fish and closed his jaws. he swung at him and hit only the head and the shark looked at him and wrenched the meat loose. the old man swung the club down again as he slipped away to swallow and hit only the heavy solid rubberiness.
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，老人看见一块块白色的鱼肉从它嘴角漏出来。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。老人趁它溜开去把肉咽下时，又抡起棍子朝它打下去，只打中了那厚实而坚韧的橡胶般的地方。
"come on, galano," the old man said. "come in again."
“来吧，加拉诺鲨，”老人说。“再过来吧。”
the shark came in a rush and the old man hit him as he shut his jaws. he hit him solidly and from as high up as he could raise the club. this time he felt the bone at the base of the brain and he hit him again in the same place while the shark tore the me at loose sluggishly and slid down from the fish.
鲨鱼冲上前来，老人趁它合上两颚时给了它一下。他结结实实地打中了它，是把棍子举得尽量高才打下去的。这一回他感到打中了脑子后部的骨头，于是朝同一部位又是一下，鲨鱼呆滞地撕下嘴里咬着的鱼肉，从鱼身边溜下去了。
the old man watched for him to come again but neither shark showed. then he saw one on the surface swimming in circles. he did not see the fin of the other.
老人守望着，等它再来，可是两条鲨鱼都没有露面。接着他看见其中的一条在海面上绕着圈儿游着。他没有看见另外一条的鳍。
i could not expect to kill them, he thought. i could have in my time. but i have hurt them both badly and neither one can feel very good. if i could have used a bat with two hands i could have killed the first one surely. even now, he thought.
我没法指望打死它们了，他想。我年轻力壮时能行。不过我已经把它们俩都打得受了重伤，它们中哪一条都不会觉得好过。要是我能用双手抡起一根棒球棒，我准能把第一条打死。即使现在也能行，他想。
he did not want to look at the fish. he knew that half of him had been destroyed. the sun had gone down while he had been in the fight with the sharks.
他不愿朝那条鱼看。他知道它的半个身子已经被咬烂了。他刚才跟鲨鱼搏斗的时候，太阳已经落下去了。
"it will be dark soon," he said. "then i should see the glow of havana. if i am too far to the eastward i will see the lights of one of the new beaches."
“马上就要断黑了，”他说。“那时候我将看见哈瓦那的灯火。如果我往东走得太远了，我会看见一个新开辟的海滩上的灯光。”
i cannot be too far out now, he thought. i hope no one has been too worried. there is only the boy to worry, of course. but i am sure he would have confidence. many of the older fishermen will worry. many others too, he thought. i live in a good town.
我现在离陆地不会太远，他想。我希望没人为此担心。当然啦，只有那孩子会担心。可是我相信他一定有信心。好多老渔夫也会担心的。还有不少别的人，他想。我住在一个好镇子里啊。
he could not talk to the fish anymore because the fish had been ruined too badly. then something came into his head.
他不能再跟这鱼说话了，因为它给糟蹋得太厉害了。接着他头脑里想起了一件事。
"half fish," he said. "fish that you were. i am sorry that i went too far out. i ruined us both. but we have killed many sharks, you and i, and ruined many others. how many did you ever kill, old fish? you do not have that spear on your head for nothing."
“半条鱼，”他说。“你原来是条完整的。我很抱歉，我出海太远了。我把你我都毁了。不过我们杀死了不少鲨鱼，你跟我一起，还打伤了好多条。你杀死过多少啊，好鱼？你头上长着那只长嘴，可不是白长的啊。”
he liked to think of the fish and what he could do to a shark if he were swimming free. i should have chopped the bill off to fight them with, he thought. but there was no hatchet and then there was no knife.
他喜欢想到这条鱼，想到如果它在自由地游着，会怎样去对付一条鲨鱼。我应该砍下它这长嘴，拿来跟那些鲨鱼斗，他想。但是没有斧头，后来又弄丢了那把刀子。
but if i had, and could have lashed it to an oar butt, what a weapon. then we might have fought them together. what will you do now if they come in the night? what can you do?
但是，如果我把它砍下了，就能把它绑在桨把上，该是多好的武器啊。这样，我们就能一起跟它们斗啦。要是它们夜里来，你该怎么办？你又有什么办法？
"fight them," he said. "i‘ll fight them until i die."
“跟它们斗，”他说。“我要跟它们斗到死。”
but in the dark now and no glow showing and no lights and only the wind and the steady pull of the sail he felt that perhaps he was already dead. he put his two hands together and felt the palms. they were not dead and he could bring the pain of life by s imply opening and closing them. he leaned his back against the stern and knew he was not dead. his shoulders told him.
但是，在眼下的黑暗里，看不见天际的反光，也看不见灯火，只有风和那稳定地拉曳着的帆，他感到说不定自己已经死了。他合上双手，摸摸掌心。这双手没有死，他只消把它们开合一下，就能感到生之痛楚。他把背脊靠在船梢上，知道自己没有死。这是他的肩膀告诉他的。
i have all those prayers i promised if i caught the fish he thought. but i am too tired to say them now. i better get the sack and put it over my shoulders.
我许过愿，如果逮住了这条鱼，要念多少遍祈祷文，他不过我现在太累了，没法念。我还是把麻袋拿来披在肩上。
he lay in the stern and steered and watched for the glow to come in the sky. i have half of him, he thought. maybe i‘ll have the luck to bring the forward half in. i should have some luck. no, he said. you violated your luck when you went too far outside.
他躺在船梢掌着舵，注视着天空，等着天际的反光出现。我还有半条鱼，他想。也许我运气好，能把前半条带回去。我总该多少有点运气吧。不，他说。你出海太远了，把好运给冲掉啦。
"don‘t be silly," he said aloud. "and keep awake and steer. you may have much luck yet.
“别傻了，”他说出声来。“保持清醒，掌好舵。你也许还有很大的好运呢。”
"i‘d like to buy some if there‘s any place they sell it," he said.
“要是有什么地方卖好运，我倒想买一些，”他说。
what could i buy it with? he asked himself. could i buy it with a lost harpoon and a broken knife and two bad hands?
我能拿什么来买呢？他问自己。能用一支弄丢了的鱼叉、一把折断的刀子和两只受了伤的手吗？
"you might," he said. "you tried to buy it with eighty-four days at sea. they nearly sold it to you too."
“也许能，”他说。“你曾想拿在海上的八十四天来买它。人家也几乎把它卖给了你。”
i must not think nonsense, he thought. luck is a thing that comes in many forms and who can recognize her? i would take some though in any form and pay what they asked. i wish i could see the glow from the lights, he thought. i wish too many things. but t hat is the thing i wish for now. he tried to settle more comfortably to steer and from his pain he knew he was not dead.
我不能胡思乱想，他想。好运这玩意儿，来的时候有许多不同的方式，谁认得出啊？可是不管什么样的好运，我都要一点儿，要多少钱就给多少。但愿我能看到灯火的反光，他想。我的愿望太多了。但眼下的愿望就只有这个了。他竭力坐得舒服些，好好掌舵，因为感到疼痛，知道自己并没有死。
he saw the reflected glare of the lights of the city at what must have been around ten o‘clock at night. they were only perceptible at first as the light is in the sky before the moon rises. then they were steady to see across the ocean which was rough now with the increasing breeze. he steered inside of the glow and he thought that now, soon, he must hit the edge of the stream.
大约夜里十点的时候，他看见了城市的灯火映在天际的反光。起初只能依稀看出，就象月亮升起前天上的微光。然后一步步地清楚了，就在此刻正被越来越大的风刮得波涛汹涌的海洋的另一边。他驶进了这反光的圈子，他想，要不了多久就能驶到湾流的边缘了。
now it is over, he thought. they will probably hit me again. but what can a man do against them in the dark without a weapon?
现在事情过去了，他想。它们也许还会再来袭击我。不过，一个人在黑夜里，没有武器，怎样能对付它们呢？
he was stiff and sore now and his wounds and all of the strained parts of his body hurt with the cold of the night. i hope i do not have to fight again, he thought. i hope so much i do not have to fight again.
他这时身子僵硬、疼痛，在夜晚的寒气里，他的伤口和身上所有用力过度的地方都在发痛。我希望不必再斗了，他想。我真希望不必再斗了。
but by midnight he fought and this time he knew the fight was useless. they came in a pack and he could only see the lines in the water that their fins made and their phosphorescence as they threw themselves on the fish. he clubbed at heads and heard the jaws chop and the shaking of the skiff as they took hold below. he clubbed desperately at what he could only feel and hear and he felt something seize the club and it was gone.
但是到了午夜，他又搏斗了，而这一回他明白搏斗也是徒劳。它们是成群袭来的，朝那鱼直扑，他只看见它们的鳍在水面上划出的一道道线，还有它们的磷光。他朝它们的头打去，听到上下颚啪地咬住的声音，还有它们在船底下咬住了鱼使船摇晃的声音。他看不清目标，只能感觉到，听到，就不顾死活地挥棍打去，他感到什么东西攫住了棍子，它就此丢了。
he jerked the tiller free from the rudder and beat and chopped with it, holding it in both hands and driving it down again and again. but they were up to the bow now and driving in one after the other and together, tearing off the pieces of meat that show ed glowing below the sea as they turned to come once more.
他把舵把从舵上猛地扭下，用它又打又砍，双手攥住了一次次朝下戳去。可是它们此刻都在前面船头边，一条接一条地窜上来，成群地一起来，咬下一块块鱼肉，当它们转身再来时，这些鱼肉在水面下发亮。
one came, finally, against the head itself and he knew that it was over. he swung the tiller across the shark‘s head where the jaws were caught in the heaviness of the fish‘s head which would not tear. he swung it once and twice and again. he heard the ti ller break and he lunged at the shark with the splintered butt. he felt it go in and knowing it was sharp he drove it in again. the shark let go and rolled away. that was the last shark of the pack that came. there was nothing more for them to eat.
最后，有条鲨鱼朝鱼头起来，他知道这下子可完了。他把舵把朝鲨鱼的脑袋抡去，打在它咬住厚实的鱼头的两颚上，那儿的肉咬不下来。他抡了一次，两次，又一次。他听见舵把啪的断了，就把断下的把手向鲨鱼扎去。他感到它扎了进去，知道它很尖利，就再把它扎进去。鲨鱼松了嘴，一翻身就走了。这是前来的这群鲨鱼中最末的一条。它们再也没有什么可吃的了。
the old man could hardly breathe now and he felt a strange taste in his mouth. it was coppery and sweet and he was afraid of it for a moment. but there was not much of it.
老人这时简直喘不过起来，觉得嘴里有股怪味儿。这味儿带着铜腥气，甜滋滋的，他一时害怕起来。但是这味儿并不太浓。
he spat into the ocean and said, "eat that, galanos. and make a dream you‘ve killed a man."
他朝海里啐了一口说：“把它吃了，加拉诺鲨。做个梦吧，梦见你杀了一个人。”
he knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy and he went back to the stern and found the jagged end of the tiller would fit in the slot of the rudder well enough for him to steer. he settled the sack around his shoulders and put the skiff on her c ourse. he sailed lightly now and he had no thoughts nor any feelings of any kind. he was past everything now and he sailed the skiff to make his home port as well and as intelligently as he could. in the night sharks hit the carcass as someone might pick up crumbs from the table. the old man paid no attention to them and did not pay any attention to anything except steering. he only noticed how lightly and how well the skiff sailed now there was no great weight beside her.
他明白他如今终于给打败了，没法补救了，就回到船梢，发现舵把那锯齿形的断头还可以安在舵的狭槽里，让他用来掌舵。他把麻袋在肩头围围好，使小船顺着航线驶去。航行得很轻松，他什么念头都没有，什么感觉也没有。他此刻超脱了这一切，只顾尽可能出色而明智地把小船驶回他家乡的港口。夜里有些鲨鱼来咬这死鱼的残骸，就象人从饭桌上捡面包屑吃一样。老人不去理睬它们，除了掌舵以外他什么都不理睬。他只留意到船舷边没有什么沉重的东西，小船这时驶来多么轻松，多么出色。
she‘s good, he thought. she is sound and not harmed in any way except for the tiller. that is easily replaced.
船还是好好的，他想。它是完好的，没受一点儿损伤，除了那个舵把。那是容易更换的。
he could feel he was inside the current now and he could see the lights of the beach colonies along the shore. he knew where he was now and it was nothing to get home.
他感觉到已经在湾流中行驶，看得见沿岸那些海滨住宅区的灯光了。他知道此刻到了什么地方，回家是不在话下了。
the wind is our friend, anyway, he thought. then he added, sometimes. and the great sea with our friends and our enemies. and bed, he thought. bed is my friend. just bed, he thought. bed will be a great thing. it is easy when you are beaten, he thought. i never knew how easy it was. and what beat you? he thought.
不管怎么样，风总是我们的朋友，他想。然后他加上一句：有时候是。还有大海，海里有我们的朋友，也有我们的敌人。还有床，他想。床是我的朋友。光是床，他想。床将是样了不起的东西。吃了败仗，上床是很舒服的，他想。我从来不知道竟然这么舒服。那么是什么把你打败的，他想。
"nothing," he said aloud. "i went out too far."
“什么也没有，”他说出声来。“只怪我出海太远了。”