when he sailed into the little harbour the lights of the terrace were out and he knew everyone was in bed. the breeze had risen steadily and was blowing strongly now. it was quiet in the harbour though and he sailed up onto the little patch of shingle bel ow the boat up as far as he could. then he stepped out and made her fast to a rock.

等他驶进小港，露台饭店的灯光全熄灭了，他知道人们都上床了。海风一步步加强，此刻刮得很猛了。然而港湾里静悄悄的，他直驶到岩石下一小片卵石滩前。没人来帮他的忙，他只好尽自己的力量把船划得紧靠岸边。然后他跨出船来，把它系在一块岩石上。

he unstepped the mast and furled the sail and tied it. then he shouldered the mast and started to climb. it was then he knew the depth of his tiredness. he stopped for a moment and looked back and saw in the reflection from the street light the great tail of the fish standing up well behind the skiff‘s stern. he saw the white naked line of his backbone and the dark mass of the head with the projecting bill and all the nakedness between.

他拔下桅杆，把帆卷起，系住。然后他打起桅杆往岸上爬。这时候他才明白自己疲乏到什么程度。他停了一会儿，回头一望，在街灯的反光中，看见那鱼的大尾巴直竖在小船船梢后边。他看清它赤露的脊骨象一条白线，看清那带着突出的长嘴的黑糊糊的脑袋，而在这头尾之间却一无所有。

he started to climb again and at the top he fell and lay for some time with the mast across his shoulder. he tried to get up. but it was too difficult and he sat there with the mast on his shoulder and looked at the road. a cat passed on the far side goin g about his business and the old man watched it. then he just watched the road.

他再往上爬，到了顶上，摔倒在地，躺了一会儿，桅杆还是横在肩上。他想法爬起身来。可是太困难了，他就扛着桅杆坐在那儿，望着大路。一只猫从路对面走过，去干它自己的事，老人注视着它。然后他只顾望着大路。

finally he put the mast down and stood up. he picked the mast up and put it on his shoulder and started up the road. he had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.

临了，他放下桅杆，站起身来。他举起桅杆，扛在肩上，顺着大路走去。他不得不坐下歇了五次，才走到他的窝棚。

inside the shack he leaned the mast against the wall. in the dark he found a water bottle and took a drink. then he lay down on the bed. he pulled the blanket over his shoulders and then over his back and legs and he slept face down on the newspapers with his arms out straight and the palms of his hands up.

进了窝棚，他把桅杆靠在墙上。他摸黑找到一只水瓶，喝了一口水。然后他在床上躺下了。他拉起毯子，盖住两肩，然后裹住了背部和双腿，他脸朝下躺在报纸上，两臂伸得笔直，手掌向上。

he was asleep when the boy looked in the door in the morning. it was blowing so hard that the driftingboats would not be going out and the boy had slept late and then come to the old man‘s shack as he had come each morning. the boy saw that the old man wa s breathing and then he saw the old man‘s hands and he started to cry. he went out very quietly to go to bring some coffee and all the way down the road he was crying.

早上，孩子朝门内张望，他正熟睡着。风刮得正猛，那些漂网渔船不会出海了，所以孩子睡了个懒觉，跟每天早上一样，起身后就到老人的窝棚来。孩子看见老人在喘气，跟着看见老人的那双手，就哭起来了。他悄没声儿地走出来，去拿点咖啡，一路上边走边哭。

many fishermen were around the skiff looking at what was lashed beside it and one was in the water, his trousers rolled up, measuring the skeleton with a length of line.

许多渔夫围着那条小船，看着绑在船旁的东西，有一名渔夫卷起了裤腿站在水里，用一根钓索在量那死鱼的残骸。

the boy did not go down. he had been there before and one of the fishermen was looking after the skiff for him.

孩子并不走下岸去。他刚才去过了，其中有个渔夫正在替他看管这条小船。

"how is he?" one of the fishermen shouted.

“他怎么啦？”一名渔夫大声叫道。

"sleeping," the boy called. he did not care that they saw him crying. "let no one disturb him."

“在睡觉，”孩子喊着说。他不在乎人家看见他在哭。“谁都别去打扰他。”

"he was eighteen feet from nose to tail," the fisherman who was measuring him called.

“它从鼻子到尾巴有十八英尺长，”那量鱼的渔夫叫道。

"i believe it," the boy said.

“我相信，”孩子说。

he went into the terrace and asked for a can of coffee.

他走进露台饭店，去要一罐咖啡。

"hot and with plenty of milk and sugar in it."

“要烫，多加些牛奶和糖在里头。”

"anything more?"

“还要什么？”

"no. afterwards i will see what he can eat."

“不要了。过后我再看他想吃些什么。”

"what a fish it was," the proprietor said. "there has never been such a fish. those were two fine fish you took yesterday too."

“多大的鱼呀，”饭店老板说。“从来没有过这样的鱼。你昨天捉到的那两条也满不错。”

"damn my fish," the boy said and he started to cry again.

“我的鱼，见鬼去，”孩子说，又哭起来了。

"do you want a drink of any kind?" the proprietor asked.

“你想喝点什么吗？”老板问。

"no," the boy said. "tell them not to bother santiago. i‘ll be back."

“不要，”孩子说。“叫他们别去打扰圣地亚哥。我就回来。”

"tell him how sorry i am."

“跟他说我多么难过。”

"thanks," the boy said.

“谢谢，”孩子说。

the boy carried the hot can of coffee up to the old man‘s shack and sat by him until he woke. once it looked as though he were waking. but he had gone back into heavy sleep and the boy had gone across the road to borrow some wood to heat the coffee.

孩子拿着那罐热咖啡直走到老人的窝棚，在他身边坐下，等他醒来。有一回眼看他快醒过来了。可是他又沉睡过去，孩子就跨过大路去借些木柴来热咖啡。

finally the old man woke.

老人终于醒了。

"don‘t sit up," the boy said. "drink this." he poured some of the coffee in a glass.

“别坐起来，”孩子说。“把这个喝了。”他倒了些咖啡在一只玻璃杯里。

the old man took it and drank it.

老人把它接过去喝了。

"they beat me, manolin," he said. "they truly beat me."

“它们把我打败了，马诺林，”他说。“它们确实把我打败了。”

"he didn‘t beat you. not the fish."

“它没有打败你。那条鱼可没有。”

"no. truly. it was afterwards."

“对。真个的。是后来才吃败仗的。”

"pedrico is looking after the skiff and the gear. what do you want done with the head?"

“佩德里科在看守小船和打鱼的家什。你打算把那鱼头怎么着？”

"let pedrico chop it up to use in fish traps."

“让佩德里科把它切碎了，放在捕鱼机里使用。”

"and the spear?"

“那张长嘴呢？”

"you keep it if you want it."

“你要你就拿去。”

"i want it," the boy said. "now we must make our plans about the other things."

“我要，”孩子说。“现在我们得来商量一下别的事情。”

"did they search for me?"

“他们来找过我吗？”

"of course. with coast guard and with planes."

“当然啦。派出了海岸警卫队和飞机。”

"the ocean is very big and a skiff is small and hard to see," the old man said. he noticed how pleasant it was to have someone to talk to instead of speaking only to himself and to the sea. "i missed you," he said "what did you catch?"

“海洋非常大，小船很小，不容易看见，”老人说。他感到多么愉快，可以对一个人说话，不再只是自言自语，对着海说话了。“我很想念你，”他说。“你们捉到了什么？”

"one the first day. one the second and two the third."

“头一天一条。第二天一条，第三天两条。”

"very good."

“好极了。”

"now we fish together again."

“现在我们又可以一起钓鱼了。”

"no. i am not lucky. i am not lucky anymore."

“不。我运气不好。我再不会交好运了。”

"the hell with luck," the boy said. "i‘ll bring the luck with me."

“去它的好运，”孩子说。“我会带来好运的。”

"what will your family say?"

“你家里人会怎么说呢？”

"i do not care. i caught two yesterday. but we will fish together now for i still have much to learn."

“我不在乎。我昨天逮住了两条。不过我们现在要一起钓鱼，因为我还有好多东西需要学。”

"we must get a good killing lance and always have it on board. you can make the blade from a spring leaf from an old ford. we can grind it in guanabacoa. it should be sharp and not tempered so it will break. my knife broke."

“我们得弄一支能扎死鱼的好长矛，经常放在船上。你可以用一辆旧福特牌汽车上的钢板做矛头。我们可以拿到瓜纳巴科亚去磨。应该把它磨得很锋利，不要回火锻造，免得它会断裂。我的刀子断了。”

"i‘ll get another knife and have the spring ground. how many days of heavy brisa have we?"

“我去弄把刀子来，把钢板也磨磨快。这大风要刮多少天？”

"maybe three. maybe more."

“也许三天。也许还不止。”

"i will have everything in order," the boy said. "you get your hands well old man."

“我要把什么都安排好，”孩子说。“你把你的手养好，老大爷。”

"i know how to care for them. in the night i spat something strange and felt something in my chest was broken."

“我知道怎样保养它们的。夜里，我吐出了一些奇怪的东西，感到胸膛里有什么东西碎了。”

"get that well too," the boy said. "lie down, old man, and i will bring you your clean shirt. and something to eat."

“把这个也养养好，”孩子说。“躺下吧，老大爷，我去给你拿干净衬衫来。还带点吃的来。”

"bring any of the papers of the time that i was gone," the old man said.

“我不在这儿的时候的报纸，你也随便带一份来，”老人说。

"you must get well fast for there is much that i can learn and you can teach me everything. how much did you suffer?"

“你得赶快好起来，因为我还有好多东西要学，你可以把什么都教给我。你吃了多少苦？”

"plenty," the old man said.

“可不少啊，”老人说。

"i‘ll bring the food and the papers," the boy said. "rest well, old man. i will bring stuff from the drugstore for your hands."

“我去把吃的东西和报纸拿来，”孩子说。“好好休息吧，老大爷。我到药房去给你的手弄点药来。”

"don‘t forget to tell pedrico the head is his."

“别忘了跟佩德里科说那鱼头给他了。”

"no. i will remember."

“不会。我记得。”

as the boy went out the door and down the worn coral rock road he was crying again.

孩子出了门，顺着那磨损的珊瑚石路走去，他又在哭了。

that afternoon there was a party of tourists at the terrace and looking down in the water among the empty beer cans and dead barracudas a woman saw a great long white spine with a huge tail at the end that lifted and swung with the tide while the east wind blew a heavy steady sea outside the entrance to the harbour.

那天下午，露台饭店来了一群旅游者，有个女人朝下面的海水望去，看见在一些空气酒听和死梭子鱼之间，有一条又粗又长的白色脊骨，一端有条巨大的尾巴，当东风在港外不断地掀起大浪的时候，这尾巴随着潮水瓶落、摇摆。

"what‘s that?" she asked a waiter and pointed to the long backbone of the great fish that was now just garbage waiting to go out with the tide.

“那是什么？”她问一名侍者，指着那条大鱼的长长的脊骨，它如今仅仅是垃圾，只等潮水来把它带走了。

"tiburon," the waiter said. "eshark." he was meaning to explain what had happened.

“tiburon，”侍者说，“eshark。”他打算解释这事情的经过。

"i didn‘t know sharks had such handsome, beautifully formed tails."

“我不知道鲨鱼有这样漂亮的尾巴，形状这样美观。”

"i didn‘t either," her male companion said.

“我也不知道，”她的男伴说。

up the road, in his shack, the old man was sleeping again. he was still sleeping on his face and the boy was sitting by him watching him. the old man was dreaming about the lions.

在大路另一头老人的窝棚里，他又睡着了。他依旧脸朝下躺着，孩子坐在他身边，守着他。老人正梦见狮子。