第4章 The Big Fish Bit the Hook[第1页/共9页]

This far out,he must be huge in this month,he thought.Eat them,fish.Eat them.Please eat them.How fresh they are and you down there six hundred feet in that cold water in the dark.Make another turn in the dark and come back and eat them.

That was the saddest thing I ever saw with them,the old man thought.The boy was sad too and we begged her pardon and butchered her promptly.

Then he felt the gentle touch on the line and he was happy.

The old man held the line delicately,and softly,with his left hand,unleashed it from the stick.Now he could let it run through his fingers without the fish feeling any tension .

“It was noon when I hooked him,”he said.“ And I have never seen him.”

During the night two porpoise came around the boat and he could hear them rolling and blowing.He could tell the difference between the blowing noise the male made and the sighing blow of the female.

He did not take it though.He was gone and the old man felt nothing.

No one should be alone in their old age,he thought.But it is unavoidable.I must remember to eat the tuna before he spoils in order to keep strong.Remember,no matter how little you want to,that you must eat him in the morning. Remember,he said to himself.